


Code Geass: Kallen of the Moon

by BahamutX



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Code Geass
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 48,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27396619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BahamutX/pseuds/BahamutX
Summary: Crossover with Sailor Moon. High school student and part-time terrorist, Kallen had never been a typical girl. However, her life is forever changed one day after meeting a mysterious woman and receiving a special power. Now, as Sailor Moon, she finds herself fighting Britannia in a whole new way.
Relationships: Kouzuki Kallen/Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Act I: Kallen's Transformation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of the Code Geass or Sailor Moon franchises.

_The silhouette of young woman who was obscured in shadow wearing an elegant dress walked along up a set of stairs to a magnificent palace. At the the top of the stairs was another silhouette, this one seeming to be a young man in an outfit that included a cape. The odd thing was that almost everything else was clear, but these two people were obscured and unrecognizable. As the young woman saw the man, she appeared to get excited, and quickened her pace, the young man also walking to meet her. As they drew close, she held open her arms, preparing to embrace the man before her._

A red haired girl awoke. "There was that dream again, I think..." she said, rubbing her eyes. It was the same as usual; she'd have a strange dream, and when she would wake up, she wouldn't be able to remember what it was about. But she just had the same feeling every time, and could tell it had to be the same one. She couldn't help but wish that she had been able to remember it. It gave her such a nice feeling, after all.

The girl yawned as she got out of bed, still half asleep. Looking over to the clock, she stood up and walked over to her bedroom's bathroom. As she was about to sit down on the toilet, something suddenly clicked in her mind, and she ran out of the bathroom to look at her clock, and a look of realization came on to her face.

"OH NO, I OVERSLEPT!"

Her name was Kallen, and depending on who you asked, her last name was either Stadtfeld or Kozuki. She was half-Britannian and half-Japanese. And while she was the daughter of a Britannian nobleman, she much preferred her Japanese roots. She hated Britannian society, and how they would mistreat the Japanese.

* * *

As Kallen dashed through the gates of Ashford Academy, she was glad that no one was around to actually see her, everyone being in class by now. It would be pretty hard to keep up with her sick girl act if everyone saw that she was in top physical condition like this.

Overall, she wasn't too surprised that she had overslept seeing as she had been out really late last night in the ghetto. She had been meeting with Ohgi and the others, and probably hadn't gotten home until probably about two or three in the morning. But there wasn't much use complaining about it, seeing as she didn't really regret it. It wasn't as if she actually cared about going to school here. But her brother had insisted that she get a good education, and Ohgi insisted she go to school if she was going to be part of their resistance group.

As she turned a corner to go around a building though, she was knocked back onto her butt as she collided with something. As she rubbed her head, she looked over to see that it had been another student. ' _Oh crap._ ' she swore in her head, switching into to her sick girl routine. "Oh, I'm so sorry." she said meekly. She hoped that she could play this whole thing off and he wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Perhaps you should be more careful next time." the boy said as he got to his feet and stood up, Kallen doing the same. He had raven colored hair and violet eyes. As Kallen and this boy's eyes met, she suddenly felt a twinge of... something. She wasn't sure just what, but it was some kind of feeling. She was a bit confused by it, but she quickly brushed it off.

"Sorry, I was running late." Maybe if she was lucky, he wouldn't recognize her and forget about this.

"I'm sure." he replied, brushing himself off and resuming on his way. She noticed he seemed to stop and cast one final glance back before continuing. And as he walked off, he spoke up once more. "You know, for a girl who everyone says is sick, you sure seem fine to me."

' _Ah, crap, he definitely knows..._ ' She was too preoccupied with these thoughts to notice that the student seemed to be on his way to leave the school grounds.

* * *

"I apologize for being late." Kallen said to her teacher, as she entered.

"No, its quite alright, Ms Stadtfeld. Why, with your condition, it is enough that you are able to make it at all." he replied to her. "Now, take your seat. I'm sure someone will be glad to share their notes with you after class so that you can catch up."

"Thank you, sir." she said before walking over to her seat. All in all, it looked to be a typical day for her, other than the part about running late. She'd probably make her way to the ghetto after school as usual to meet with the others. She stared out the window of the classroom for a little bit. She didn't really feel like being here today, but there wasn't anything she could do about that. It seemed it would be an overall uneventful day for her.

* * *

Elsewhere, the boy that Kallen had bumped into made his way through the Tokyo Settlement. His name was Lelouch, and... well, his past was complicated, to say the least. As walked through the streets, he thought back to the night before...

_Lelouch was currently sitting down for dinner with his beloved little sister. As they were eating, the phone suddenly began to ring. Excusing himself, Lelouch went into the other room. Picking it up, he spoke into the device. "Hello?"_

_"Hello." the one on the other end replied. The voice seemed a bit garbled, so either they were using something to distort their voice or the signal was poor. Either way, he didn't think that he recognized the voice. "Am I speaking to Lelouch?"_

_He was growing more wary by the moment. He definitely did not like where this call was going. "Yes, I am Lelouch." he replied despite his bad feeling. No, more so_ because _of his bad feeling that he would have to proceed. He would have to find out what this was about._

_"Thats good. I would like to meet with you, Lelouch vi Britannia." And at the mention of his real name, Lelouch's eyes widened. His mind raced with so many questions, such as how they found out, who were they, what did they want, and countless others. "I can understand that you may be uneasy, but you can relax. I mean you no harm. I simply want to meet with you."_

Yes, Lelouch was in fact Lelouch vi Britannia, the former Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire who had been exiled to Japan after the death of his mother, Empress Marianne. And to most of the world, he and his sister Nunnally were supposed to be dead, having died when Britannia invaded and took over Japan. They have lived in obscurity from their family and the rest of the world the last seven years.

And so, that brought Lelouch to his current predicament. He wanted to find some way out of this, but he knew that was unlikely. Unfortunately, whoever this was held all the cards at the moment. They knew him but he didn't know who they were. Which meant he had little choice but to go along with their request. And so, he made his way to the appointed meeting place, the Shinjuku ghetto.

* * *

In another location in the Tokyo Settlement, the Third Prince of Britannia, Clovis la Britannia sat in his office as he met with a blond man who stood in front of his desk. "The Shinjuku ghetto?" Prince Clovis repeated the name of the location on the file that had been placed on his desk.

"Yes sir, you Highness." the blond man replied. "I have reports that suggest our target has been sighted there. At the very least, that was where the transport wreckage was discovered."

Clovis looked over the documents. Indeed, the descriptions certainly matched. A young woman with long green hair and amber eyes. Her clothes appeared to be rather odd, which could be that she was still wearing the restraint suit she had been in when they had been transporting her before the accident. Clovis cursed his inept subordinates for letting her escape. Then again, he supposed he shouldn't be too harsh, as it wasn't completely a mistake on their part seeing as it had been the victim of a terrorist attack.

He then contemplated his options. Recapture was important, no question about that. But how to do it was important as well. Her existence had to be kept from the public. After all, he couldn't let word of a girl who couldn't die go public, and risk those that he couldn't afford to get involved learn about her. He supposed he should count himself lucky that not many of the Elevens had taken much notice of her. If some dumb thugs had tried to have his way with her, things could have spread rather quickly after she healed from her injuries before their eyes. Still though, time was definitely of the essence.

"Tell me, what course of action do you suggest?"

"In all honesty, your highness, I suggest we simply seal off the area, and carry out a raid on the Shinjuku ghetto. We'll search for her and also eliminate the residents to keep the truth from getting out, saying that we're dealing with the terrorists who attacked the transport."

"How unfortunate, but I suppose there is no helping it. Have the troops prepare and assemble. We'll carry out the operation as soon as preparations are complete."

"Yes, your Highness."

* * *

Kallen made her way through the streets of Tokyo. Now that it was after school, she was glad to get out of that place. She hated school so much. It was full over-privileged and self-entitled Britannians. Of course, it also wasn't like she had any friends either. Sure, there were plenty of girls who would associate themselves with her, but she wouldn't really call any of them her friends. They were just a bunch of spoiled rich girls. Really, it was just such an unpleasant place. She felt so isolated there.

Now though, she was making her way to Shinjuku as she often did. There, she planned to meet up with the rest of her group. Or rather, it was her brother's group. Well, formerly his... But anyway, it was a small resistance cell made up of friends of her brother. And she took part in it. It wasn't a big or major group like the JLF, but they did what they could. Like their mission the other day.

Leaving the unmarred areas of the settlement, she entered in to the ruined city of the Shinjuku district. Every time she came here, it always made her hate the Britannians more. They had invaded this land, took over, and left whatever they weren't using in shambles. It truly made her ashamed of that half of her blood. They all acted like they were so much better and treated the Japanese like dirt.

And that was why she wanted to help out their resistance group any way she could. Still though, she really wished they let her do more.

* * *

"All is ready, your highness." General Bartley told Clovis as he stood before him on the military transport, a G-1 base. Clovis sat on a throne towards the back, with the blond man he had met with earlier standing next to him.

"Good. Inform the troops to wait for my signal."

"Of course, your Highness."

At his side, the blond man in a white suit stood at attention. "So, Jadeite, do you think all will proceed as planned?"

"I see no reason that it shouldn't, your Highness." the blond man, Jadeite, replied. "Its not as if any of the Elevens here can hope to stand up to the Britannian military. Our only issue is whether or not she is still here, and that sighting was from this morning."

"Good. I don't want her slipping through our fingers again. I don't want any more blunders."

"Of course not, your Highness." Bartley said, not wanting to get on the Prince's bad side. In truth, ever since that Jadeite fellow had become involved with them, things had truly become... well, he supposed strange would be the best word to describe it. Yes, this mysterious man who possibly terrified him, had certainly changed things around here. But there was little he could say on the matter. Prince Clovis didn't seem to have any problem with him, after all.

"Now then, I must be leaving for now, your Highness." Jadeite said.

"Not going to stay and help oversee the operation?" Clovis asked.

"No, I must make my report. So I'll leave it in your capable hands, your Highness. I'll also entrust with a little something to help you." Jadeite said with snap of his fingers, and a woman in uniform entered stepped out from the shadows behind the prince. "She'll make sure everything goes fine."

"Yes, of course. And she is free to gather energy from the Elevens to bring back to your Queen." Clovis replied.

"You have my thanks, Prince Clovis. And with any luck, maybe finding her will lead us to the Legendary Silver Crystal." And with that, Jadeite walked into portal that materialized behind him, which vanished as soon as he was through.

"Now then, commence the operation! Destroy Shinjuku ghetto! Leave no one alive!" Clovis declared as he stood up from the throne he had been sitting on. He then turned to the woman that Jadeite had left there. "As for you, carry out your mission."

"Of course, Prince Clovis." she said before taking her leave with a bow.

And with his orders, the soldiers that had been assembled began to carry out their assault on the unsuspecting city.

As the chaos began to unfold, their was a transmission on the monitor, and a man wearing glasses appeared on screen. "Hello their, your Highness!" he greeted.

"Yes? What does ASEEC need?" Clovis asked boredly.

"Since you say you'll be facing off against some terrorists today, I was throwing in my offer to help out if things get too out of hand." the man, Lloyd Asplund said.

Normally, Clovis would simply dismiss the offer. But since he doubted it would come to that, he figured that he'd at least humor the man. "Why, of course. We would be glad to accept your assistance in case of an emergency. Though I have doubts that it will come to that." After all, with one of Jadeite's servants out there, no mere terrorist would be a match for them today.

"The chance is all I ask for. Hope we'll get to speak again soon!" And with that, the transmission ended.

* * *

As he heard the sounds of gunfire, Lelouch pressed his back against the wall, peaking out from around the corner, and watched a pair of soldiers gun down a group of Japanese people who fled in terror.

' _Shit, what is the Britannian Military doing here?_ ' Was this a trap? Did this person who called him here sell him out? No, that didn't make much sense. The military wouldn't be here to kill off a long-thought-dead prince of Britannia. Maybe they were after whoever had called him here and the person intended to use him as a bargaining tool for their own safety. That seemed more likely, but he still wasn't certain.

Regardless of what was their reason for being here, he wasn't about to let himself get caught up in this mess and possibly even killed in this whole mess. And so, being careful to not be seen, he began to try and escape from this situation unscathed.

As he did, he didn't notice another person hiding, watching him from the shadows. It was a girl who appeared to be the same age as him, with long green hair and amber eyes.

* * *

"Ohgi! What the hell is going on!? Did they show up here looking for us?" Kallen demanded into her phone.

" _I have no idea!_ " the man on the other end replied frantically. " _Although, I have a hard time believing that the Britannians are committing such a huge force just for a small time group like us._ "

"Yeah, you've got a point." Then why were they doing this? What could their real objective be? Then again, maybe that transport that they attacked was more important than they thought. So then maybe they were out for revenge?

" _Kallen, we're gonna try and fight them and save as many people as we can. You just get out of here!_ "

"Are you crazy!? No way am I running and leaving you guys!" she protested. "You'll need all the help you can get!"

" _Thats an order, Kallen! Naoto would never forgive me if anything happened to you!_ "

"But-!" However, the phone was hung up before she could say anymore, effectively ending the conversation. "Damn it!" she just wanted to help, but they wouldn't let her. It wasn't even like she was useless or anything. She was strong, fast, and a could easily hold her own in a fight. And she was a great pilot! They just didn't have any Knightmares she could use right now. And the only reason she wasn't allowed to help was because she was Naoto's younger sister. ' _If only Naoto were still here..._ ' she though, wondering if her brother would let her help at all.

But she sure as hell wasn't going to be brushed aside by them. She was gonna help whether they accepted her or not. After all, she figured she wouldn't able to run away in this situation anyway. And so, she steeled her resolve, and continued to make her way to the base.

And thats when she saw something strange. It was a woman in an officer uniform, standing before a group of people collapsing to their knees. Something appeared to be on each of their necks that appeared to be glowing.

"These humans, consumed by their fear and despair, are so easy to gather energy from." she said with quite a sinister chuckle.

"Hey you! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Kallen called out, rushing at her, pulling out her pouch with a concealed knife. She didn't know what was going on, but this was not something she as just going to ignore. Whatever this woman was doing to these people, she was going to stop her! After all, she was just one person, and she should be able to handle her no problem.

"Oh?" the woman said, turning around to face Kallen as she rushed her. However, she didn't seem to be scared in the slightest. And as she did, she caught Kallen's knife in her hand by the blade.

"Wha...?"

And before anything else could be done, the woman snapped the off the blade of her knife as if it was a twig. "So, another human. And you seem like a feisty one. I think-" she was cut off as Kallen punched her in the face. However, much to the redhead's shock, she didn't seem affected by the impact at all, not flinching even slightly. "Well now, you've got quite the spirit. I think I'll play with you a bit." And with that, the woman began to laugh, which greatly unnerved Kallen on its own. And if that wasn't enough, this woman began to transform, her skin turning dark and shriveling and a red patch appeared on her forehead. The sclera of her eyes turned black, with the irises turned a pale yellow. Her hair also began to grow, and began to stick up on strands.

"You're... some kind of monster..." Kallen let out, fear beginning to come over her. She had generally always been a brave girl, but this... Monsters were not supposed to be real, and yet here one was, standing right before her! What could she possibly do? As she stood paralyzed with fear, the monster lunged at her, and she fell back onto the ground. The woman was then quickly on her, and wrapped her hands around Kallen's neck, cutting off her air.

As Kallen lay on the ground being choked, she reached around for anything, she felt something, and quickly stuck it into the monster woman's eye. After all, even if she was tough enough to take a punch, maybe her eyes were still as vulnerable as anything else's. And she was quickly proven correct as the monster woman let out a scream of immense pain. She then released her grip on Kallen's neck, who gasped for air as the monster woman put her hands to her face. Watching the woman in pain, she saw something sticking out from between her fingers covering her face, and saw that what she had stuck into her was the tip of her knife that had been snapped off.

Not wanting to be near her any longer, Kallen quickly scrambled to her feet and took off running.

"Come back here, you little bitch!" the monster woman yelled out. Kallen had absolutely no intention of listening to that demand, and thus continued to flee, intending to lose her in the ghetto. It was where they chose to base themselves, she knew the area well enough to get away.

And after what felt like forever she turned around after not hearing anything behind her. Not seeing anything behind her, she placed her back to a wall to catch her breath. She thought about this crazy mess that was going on. And to think, she had actually thought today would be just like any other typical day in her life. "Oh, how I wish that was still the case right now." she said aloud, simply speaking her mind. Today was possibly the worst day of her life. And what really sucked was that she couldn't do anything about it! Ohgi and the others refused her help, and who knows what might have happened to them. And of course, there was that monster lady that had just almost killed her. "Ugh! I can't do anything!" she lamented as she said as she started to slump down.

"Feeling useless?" someone said, and her head shot around to see a young woman with long green eyes. She appeared to be wearing a restraint suit, like a prisoner.

"Who are you?" she demanded, not trusting whoever they were, giving the current circumstances. She had almost just been killed, after all. Plus, there was still that whole military attack thing going on. She instinctively reached for her knife, and only when she found it wasn't there did she recall what had happened to it.

"Do you want power?" she asked, seemingly unaffected by her demands.

"'Power?'" This piqued her interest, not knowing what to expect. But she definitely could use some power right now.

"Yes, I can give you power. You may not believe in magic, but that is what I can offer you. And after what you've just seen, I'm inclined to think that you might believe me." Kallen had to admit, after seeing a monster like that woman, she was a lot less skeptical of many things. "I offer you a contract." she said as she held out a gold brooch.

"A contract?" Kallen had a bad feeling about that, like some kind of deal with the devil. She was suddenly reminded of a show she had heard some people in one of her classes talking about once, with a creature offering girls the chance to become magical girls with a contract. From the stuff she remembered, it had many of them suffer horrible fates. "Uh, I don't about this..."

"Its more of an offer, really. Old habits die hard, after all." she said with a wry smile, as if amused by a private joke.

"I don't get it." she said, voicing her confusion.

"I'd prefer if you didn't."

Rolling her eyes at that, she returned to the main subject. "So what is this you're offering me?"

"Its power. You are chosen to wield a great power."

"Chosen?"

"Just take the brooch if you accept."

"You're awfully pushy." However, at this point, Kallen knew it wasn't as if she had many other options. After all, if that monster found her right now, she would likely die by it's hands. She couldn't hope to stand up to it. And it had been wearing a Britannian military uniform, so did that mean it was working for the Britannians? That thought certainly terrified her. And so, she reached out her hand and took the brooch from her. "So how do I use it?"

"Simply put it on," the woman explain as Kallen attached it to her uniform. "Then you have to say the phrase "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

Kallen prepared herself for whatever might happen. She was still wary, but she was prepared. She just wondered what might happen if this did work. Well, she suppose that she'd find out shortly. Taking a deep breath, she spoke up. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" And as soon as she spoke those words, Kallen felt herself enveloped in a bright light.

From the brooch, red ribbons came out and wrapped around her torso, and then transformed into a white leotard with a blue sailor collar, then a red bow appeared in the front from the brooch. She then held her arms out in front of her, and red ribbons wrapped around them, and transformed into elbow-length gloves as she spread them to her side. Then ribbons wrapped around her legs and formed high-heeled boots. A blue miniskirt then appeared from her new leotard. Her hair then lifted and spiked up at the sides, and a golden tiara appeared on her forehead.

As she took in her sudden transformation, and at her new get-up. From the leotard and miniskirt, to the gloves, and the-high heeled boots."Wh-what the hell!? A sailor uniform? This is ridiculous!" she protested. For one, the miniskirt on this thing was way too short!" she complained, hating what she was currently wearing.

"Sorry, but I can't really help you on that front." the green haired girl said with a shrug, an amused smirk on her face. Kallen could tell that she was definitely enjoying her embarrassment, and it irritated her.

"You tricked me!"

"No I didn't."

"Of course you did! "Power" my ass! You just wanted to get me into this ridiculous costume!"

"The outfit aside, you have indeed gained power." And right after that, she appeared to notice something and a smirk found its way onto her face. Just as Kallen was about to ask what she saw, she heard a loud scream, and turned to see it was the monster lady from before approaching.

"Her again..." Kallen said, really hoping that this really had given her power. She also watched as the woman ducked behind something out of sight.

"Who are you? Where is that girl I was chasing?" the monster woman demanded, and Kallen was a bit surprised. I mean, it wasn't as if she was wearing a mask or anything. Her hair was just stuck up at the side a bit. Oh well, whatever the reason, she would just worry about it later. Especially since the woman lunged right at her, ready strike her down in her rage..

However, just before it could connect, Kallen leaped backwards, and was amazed when she noticed that she had ended up a lot further than she had expected. And when the monster continued her assault, she side stepped and and avoided her next strike. As Kallen nimbly dodged the monster's attack, she was amazed by her abilities. Now, despite her act at school, she had never been in such a frail condition. In fact, she had always been above average in the physical ability department. However, now she was doing things that even she never could before. Her movements were agile, and her reaction speed was beyond what she thought she could do. She had to admit, despite the ridiculous attire, she really had gained power.

"HYA!" she yelled out as she kicked the monster in the chest, sending it flying back into the wall behind it. Compared to that punch she had tried earlier, she was definitely impressed by her new capabilities. "This is amazing!" she said, performing a high kick in the air, followed by a punch, and finally a back flip, flying farther back than possible for a normal human for such a maneuver, and landed on both feet and a hand planted on the ground. "Now, with my new power, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"We'll see about that!" the monster lady said. "I thought you were just a regular human before, but now I see I'll have to get serious!"

"Bring it on!" Kallen felt confident in her own abilities. She could definitely take this monster, and whatever she could dish-

"Watch out!" the mysterious woman from before called out, but it was too late. She several people grab her from behind, and saw it was several of the Japanese citizens from before. Their expressions appeared to be blank.

"Ha ha ha... You see, those people I've been draining energy from are also under my power." the woman said. "And in their weakened state, you could easily kill them accidentally if you struggle too much! Ahahaha!"

"Why you-!" Kallen said, more and more grabbing her. She briefly thought about just going for it regardless, but then quickly took care of that thought. She'd be no better than the Britannians if she did that! But still, she had to get out of this situation.

The monster woman was not planning to give Kallen enough time to do that, and so she began to charge at Kallen once again, holding out her hand, which was tipped with razor sharp nails. She was definitely going for the kill right now. But just before the connected, there was a sudden sound of a gunshot, and a bullet struck the ground in front of the creature, causing her to hesitate.

"I apologize for interfering in your battle, young lady." a voice said, and she turned to see a figure concealed in shadows, holding the gun.

"Who are you!?" the manster woman demanded.

As the man stepped out, Kallen was a bit surprised by what he was wearing. While not as embarrassing as her own sailor uniform, it was kinda ridiculous in its own, over the top, ways. Wearing dark purple suit with gold trimmings, with a black cape with a red inner lining, and most notable of all, his unique black mask, covering his whole head, and a dark purple circle of what she assumed was some kind of glass for him to see through. He then leaped down and kicked the monster woman away.

"Get him, you fools!" the monster woman ordered as she got to her feet.

"I suggest you close your eyes for a moment." he said as a panel in his mask opened over an eye, and Kallen did as she was told. "Go to sleep for a little bit!" he ordered, and Kallen felt all the people around her slump over. When she opened her eyes, she saw that they all were indeed sleeping.

"But how!?" the monster demanded. Currently, she really didn't like her odds. Both of these people were stronger than a normal human. The girl on her own was enough for her, but both of these people? No, she'd have to make a tactical retreat for now. And so, she quickly leaped away.

Seeing that their foe was leaving, the masked man turned to face Kallen. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I didn't need your help, by the way." she said, getting the people who were asleep off of her.

"Good thing I wasn't intervening just to help you." he said with a chuckle. "Rather, I also wanted to help these people being manipulated."

"And who are you anyway."

"Ah yes, forgive me for not introducing myself. I am," he then swung his arm out as his cape billowed dramatically. "Zero!"

"'Zero?'" Kallen repeated. "Well, I'm-"

"Her name is Sailor Moon." the mystery woman from before spoke up, walking over to them from her hiding place. And Kallen couldn't help but feel embarrassed by being given such an awkward code name. Still, she supposed that it wasn't the worst name ever.

"Is it now?" Zero said with another light chuckle. "Well then, Sailor Moon, now, if you don't mind, I'd like your help."

"My help? With what?"

"Why, together, we're going to save Shinjuku."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, we close out the first chapter. Well, Kallen and Lelouch's roles in this are pretty clear. With Kallen as Moon, and Lelouch as his usual role of Zero instead of as Tuxedo Mask. I'm not even gonna bother trying to pretend to hide his role there. Also have all the other Sailors picked out. You're free to guess who if you want. Cause I'd like to think that at least some of them will be surprising. But we'll find out later then, I suppose.


	2. Act II: Battle for Shinjuku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of the Code Geass or Sailor Moon franchises.

Kallen looked over to the mysterious masked man who called himself Zero. All in all, she didn't really know what to think of him. On one hand, he had really helped her out back there, saving her the trouble of figuring out how to free herself without having to harm those people. She didn't really want to admit it, but he had saved her. But on the other, she knew nothing about him, like what his motives were. But still, she couldn't think of any good reason why the offer was a trap. After all, if he wanted her dead, he could have just let the monster woman kill her while she was subdued. "Can I trust you?" she asked.

"Now, that is the question, indeed." he said, turning around. "I could easily say "Of course", but that would not truly alleviate your doubt." Which was very true, she agreed. Its easy to tell someone to trust you, but it was a whole other matter whether the could or would. "I suppose all I can tell you is to follow your own judgment and do what you think best. However, I assure you that my offer to save Shinjuku is genuine." He then turned back to face her, and held out his hand.

Kallen sized him up once more, and took in what she knew. He had helped her, so at the very least he didn't seem interested in hurting or killing her. He was also similar to she was now, she figured. Before she had transformed, she could barely harm the monster woman, and had been little more than an annoyance to her. But when he had shown up to help her, he had definitely showed to be pretty strong, strong enough to send the monster back as she had. If they worked together, they might be able to drive off the military by themselves. "Okay, I'll do It. If Its to save Shinjuku, I'll help you."

"Well then, I am glad to have your help." Zero said as he turned around and proceeded to walk, his cape billowing and causing the simple action to seem far more dramatic than It would normally be. Kallen could only roll her eyes at the theatrics. "Now then, I have a plan. Can I count on you to follow it?"

"Well, I guess that depends on the plan." A thought then occurred to Kallen. "And what about you?" she asked as she turned to the mysterious young woman who had given her the brooch and this power.

She shrugged. "Wait for you, I suppose. Its not like I can fight with you. Despite my own abilities, I'm no stronger than a regular human." Kallen wondered what she meant by 'her own abilities' but figured it wasn't important right now. As she turned to follow Zero, the young woman spoke up once more. "By the way, that tiara you have; you can use it as a weapon."

"What?" Kallen asked flatly, then touched the item in question. "That is so stupid. Look, uh..."

"You can call me C.C." she replied.

"Right. Look, C.C., can't I get something... better?"

"I can't help you there. I'm not the one who made the power. I was just supposed to find you." she replied with a simple shrug. "When you go to use it, just make sure you say "Moon Tiara" when you do. It responds to that phrase, so yes, it is required to say that."

"Great, I'm a Magical Girl whose power is to throw jewelry at people." Kallen grumbled before making her way to follow Zero, and he leaped up, bouncing off of some walls so as to get on top of a building. Kallen then followed the motion. "At least being able to do stuff like this makes it worth it." Throwing her tiara at people may have been one of the dumbest things she had ever heard, but she did like how strong she had become.

As the two leaped across rooftops, Kallen spoke up. "So, you said you had a plan?"

"Yes, though we'll need one last bit of help to carry it out." Zero replied. "We'll need the terrorists that are located in this city to aid us."

"Huh? You need Ohgi and the others?"

* * *

On the G-1, Clovis waited for any reports of note. So far, they had run into a bit of resistance with the terrorists, but nothing they couldn't handle. They were mostly on the run from the military, so they clearly knew that they were outmatched. "Any sign of the girl?" he asked Bartley.

"No sir. Although, it has been a while since the search team we sent to look for her has reported in." he replied. Due to the nature of that girl and her ability, he had kept news on her to a minimum. Only he, Bartley, Jadeite, and a select few members of the team he sent out knew about her. He did have to keep her a secret for now, after all. Most of the subordinates of team were even to be eliminated afterwards, having only been used due to their expendable status.

As he sat there, he heard something behind him and turned to see the woman that Jadeite had left. "Hm? What are you doing back here already, Youma?" he questioned it.

"My apologies, Prince Clovis." she said as she kneeled down. She had returned to her human guise to be less conspicuous on the bridge, since not everyone present was working with Jadeite like Clovis was. "But I ran into some trouble."

"Trouble? What could possibly be any trouble for a Youma?" Clovis said with a chuckle.

"While I was carrying out my mission from Lord Jadeite, I encountered two people who appear to pose a threat."

"A threat to us? What nonsense!" he said. Still though, he would take this info in to consideration. The witch was immortal, so perhaps it wasn't inconceivable that she possessed other secrets. "Well then, make your report. What happened?"

* * *

Ohgi and the other hid behind several bits objects for cover from the gunfire of Britannian soldiers, doing their best to not die. But even so, not only were they on the defensive, but it was clear to anyone that they were fighting a losing battle. But they couldn't let that discourage them. After all, the reason that a cornered rat would fight was because it had no other option. And that described their situation perfectly. Plus, it wasn't just their own lives they were fighting for, but all the residents of Shinjuku.

"Damn it, I'm out of ammo!" Sugiyama called out.

"Same here!" Inoue said.

"Don't think I've much left myself." Yoshida joined it.

"Great! How could this possibly get any worse!?" Tamaki asked sarcastically. And as anyone could tell you, you should never say that, as it often seemed that fate would go out of its way to show the ones who said it how it could get worse. And in this case, it was a section of wall being destroyed by the shell of the Britannian Sutherland that had just arrived on the scene. And even worse, there was a whole team of them. "Damn it all to hell! We're completely screwed now!"

"Looks like this really might be the end for us..." Ohgi lamented. He just hoped that Kallen would be safe. He couldn't bare the thought of having to face his friend on the other side only to know that he let him down in protecting his sister.

However, just as they were about to resign themselves to their fate, a voice loudly announced to everyone present. "This massacre shall end here!" it said, getting the attention of all present. Everyone on both side looked over to the source, the roof of a nearby building, where high atop of it they spotted a man in a mask with a cape wrapped around him. "Soldiers of Britannia! I hereby demand that you to cease all hostilities against the people of this ghetto at once!" he declared loudly

"Is this clown for real?" Tamaki scoffed. If asking them to leave was all it took, they wouldn't be in this situation right now. This guy was an idiot, no question.

"If you will not heed my demands, we will be forced to take action!"

Among the Britannian soldiers, many were laughing at the sudden appearance of this mask man. After all, who the hell did he think he was to make demands of them? They were the ones who were wining here, after all! " _We have our orders._ " a soldier in a Sutherland said as he worked the controls to take aim at the masked man. " _We will decline your 'generous offer._ '"

"Then you leave us no choice. We will have to take action!"

And as he said that, a strangely dressed young woman leaped over him and all the way to wall of a building across from the masked man, planted her on the wall, and used it to propel herself downward faster. And while most expected her to simply die on impact, she instead reached all the way to the building across again and bounced off and down. Most were shocked by the feat that she was performing, and didn't know how to react as they stood stunned. As she landed on the ground, she wasted no time in going on the offensive.

"Moon Tiara!" Kallen said as she placed her fingers to the object on her forehead, which glowed as took it off and began to spin around. In Kallen's opinion, it reminded her a bit of a frisbee. As it struck one of the Sutherlands, it cut right through the armored unit, putting it well out of commission as it bisected through the waist and forcing the cockpit to eject. "Okay, that was a lot less stupid than I thought." she said as the tiara came back to her. Considering it came back to her, maybe she should add 'Boomerang' to the end of it to make it sound a bit cooler, she thought. If she had to say a phrase to use it, she might as well do what she could to make it sound even just a little less ridiculous.

Soldiers and terrorists alike were absolute shocked by what they had just seen. Speechless and too stunned to move, they were easy prey as Zero came down and kicked a couple of soldiers to the ground, and knocked several into a wall. In Kallen's opinion, he kind of reminded her of that superhero that was based off of a bat that she had seen in comics.

A pair of Sutherlands raced forward to lend support. As the other aimed their weapons, Kallen reached for her tiara to take them out. However, Zero simply leaped towards them and held out his hand and Kallen saw a light appear in his palm. Much to her surprise, the Sutherlands ceased moving as they completely lost power, and fell to the and stopped moving and remained helpless. As they were disabled, Kallen then called out "Moon Tiara!" as she activated the thing, and it spun like a golden disk and threw at another Sutherland, and hitting it in a place that caused it to explode, destroying it, and going through and into another Sutherland, cutting right through the waist. As soldiers then aimed and fired on her, she dodged the gunfire with surprising ease, and kicked and punched them into unconsciousness.

As this was going on, Ohgi and his group were speechless. These two were practically inhuman! The falls alone should have killed them, but they were perfectly fine. And their abilities were unreal, such as taking down Knightmares unarmed! Or at least, not by ordinary means. After all, that Magical Girl's tiara of all things was cutting through the machines like butter!

"Someone pinch me, because this has to be a dream! That guy in the cape and mask and the sexy Magical Girl are kicking their asses!" Tamaki remarked. Inoue indulged his request, though not in the way he had wished. "OW! I said pinch me, not slap me!" he said rubbing his cheek.

"Then stop being a pervert and ogling the girl saving our lives!" she replied.

It was around this time that Zero and Kallen had finished taking down the soldiers. All the ones that were on foot were unconscious, and the Vehicles were either destroyed or disabled. "And that takes care of that."

"Thank you for the help." Ohgi said as he approached them. And as he did, Kallen wanted to die of embarrassment at him and the others seeing her dressed like this. She was never going to live this down now. Or so she thought. "But just who are you?" Kallen was about to ask him how the hell he could possibly not recognize her, but managed to stop herself. She recalled how the monster woman also hadn't recognized her. Maybe there was some magic that also seemed to make her unrecognizable to people at work with her new look? Whatever the case, she sure wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She would die of embarrassment if they knew it was really her.

"I am Zero, and my ally is called Sailor Moon." Zero replied. "I suppose you could say that we are warriors of justice." he said with a chuckle. Part of Kallen wanted to roll her eyes at how cheesy this guy was. But as much as she might deny it, another part of her actually liked the sound of that, and that it was actually kinda cool. If no one else could recognize her like this, maybe she could go with "Sailor Moon, the warrior of justice" thing just a little bit. "We would like you to assist us in rescuing Shinjuku."

* * *

"What? We've lost signals from multiple Sutherlands?" Clovis said.

"Yes sir." a staff officer said. "They had reported to be going to aid a team that was engaging the terrorists. But shortly after they arrived, their signals were lost. In addition, we can't contact that unit anymore."

"Prince Clovis!" Bartley said as he rushed over to his side. In a hushed tone, he informed the Prince yet more bad news. "We've just gotten a report of a squad that was discovered to be dead. It was the team that we sent to find the girl!"

"What!?" Clovis let out as he stood up. Everything that could go wrong seemed to be going wrong. But that was inconceivable! With all at his disposal, they should be winning! So then how was this all happening? Still though, now everything else seemed to be going fine. Perhaps he was getting worked up for nothing. If he just continued as they had been, then perhaps everything would be resolved in time. Of course it would.

"We've just gotten an urgent transmission from Sir Glaube! His unit was just attacked, but we lost contact with him immediately afterwards! And we've lost signal from all the Knightmares in the group!" one of the staff of the bridge reported.

Clovis was becoming increasingly more worried. But this could not be allowed to continue. "Youma!"

"Yes, Prince Clovis?" the woman asked from nearby.

"Return to the front line immediately! Your priority will be to eliminate the terrorists!"

"I understand, your Highness."

* * *

"You sure about this?" Tamaki asked as they prepped the Sutherlands that they had captured with Zero's help.

"What choice do we have?" Ohgi replied. "Even if this is a trap, we're dead either way. So I'm going with the option that gives me even a little bit of hope."

"Besides, its not like the military needs to trick us. They were already winning before Zero and Sailor Moon showed up." Inoue pointed out. "Anyway, just got word from Yoshida. They got more Knightmares thanks to Zero. The plan should be ready to go off real soon."

"Right. Everyone, make sure you're weapons are checked."

* * *

"You sure this is gonna work?" Kallen asked Zero as they looked down on the battlefield from atop a dilapidated building. The sun was also setting, and night would soon be upon them.

"Of course. I wouldn't be going through with it if I didn't have confidence in its success." Zero said. "The only question is whether you think you're up for it?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can deal with being a decoy." She recalled the plan that Zero had laid out for her. While she would draw the attention of the military, which shouldn't be hard seeing as she was going to be a teenage girl destroying Knightmares by throwing a tiara at them, Zero would direct the terrorists with guerrilla tactics to eliminate the military. The ultimate goal would be to draw in as many as possible and eliminate them in a trap by collapsing the the ground from beneath them when the Britannians eventually just decided to overwhelm them with numbers. All in all, a decent plan. And he promised to try and not get Ohgi and the others killed. "So long as this whole thing works, I don't care."

"Good." he then spoke in to the radio. "P1, are you all set?"

" _Yeah, everything is ready to go on our end!_ "

"Perfect." Zero then turned to Kallen. "Well then, that means its showtime."

"Great. I've been waiting to kick some ass."

"Just try not to die." Zero said with a chuckle before going to the building where he had set up a Sutherland to observe the battlefield.

Kallen took a deep breath as she looked down towards the battlefield, preparing herself mentally for the battle that was about to take place. Leaping down, she quickly grabbed at her forehead. "Moon Tiara!" she called out as she removed it and it spun around, throwing the disk-like projectile. It flew right at a pair of unsuspecting Knightmare Frames, cutting through the waists of both of them and forcing the cockpits to eject.

" _What the hell!? Who are you!?_ " the pilot of one of the Frames asked over its speaker.

All attention was on her as the tiara flew back to her hand and she placed it back on to her forehead. "I am Sailor Moon! And since you've been slaughtering the people of this city, I am here to put an end to it all!" she said as she pointed forward. As they opened fire on her, she leaped backwards and planted her feet on the wall and kicked off, propelling herself forward. She flew past the Knightmare Frames, and called out her attack as she threw the tiara at a couple before they turned around.

As she landed, a few Sutherlands surrounded her before her tiara had returned. She then leaped to the side to avoid an attack, and then at the nearest Sutherland and kicked it. It stumbled back a bit from the force, but it didn't seem to damaged. ' _So even with my enhanced strength, I can't just take out a Knightmare with it._ ' She couldn't help but be annoyed a little that the tiara seemed to be her only weapon for this. Still, it wasn't like they were able to even hit her, she was too small and nimble for them. As her tiara returned, she threw the weaponized jewelry at another Sutherland pair.

In the cockpits, the pilots were absolutely baffled at how teenage girl was possibly fighting them on her own. They were in Knightmare Frames, and she was dressed in a ridiculous costume! And yet they couldn't seem to get her! Still, at least despite her fearsome prowess, she didn't seem to be able to do much to them without her tiara.

As Kallen avoided the shots from the Knightmares, when suddenly something else joined in on the battle. As she was in midair, something leaped out at her and kicked into the ground. As she got to her feet to avoid getting attacked, she jumped back just in time to avoid another attack, and got a good look at her assailant. "You!" she said in surprise, recognizing the monster woman from before.

"The hell is that thing?" a Britannian soldier asked in disbelief.

"Dunno, but we're being ordered to ignore it. If its attacking the hostile, then support it."

As the tiara was returning to her, she prepared to through it again, but the monster charged right at her, and Kallen dodged an attack that would have done some serious harm. She was on the defensive now. This monster was a lot more agile than the Knightmare Frames, so her one advantage was being eliminated. Between her and the gunfire, she didn't have as many openings anymore. She could deal with one or the other fairly easily, but together was whole different story.

Still, she should be able to keep doing her job. She was just a decoy after all. If they saw her struggling against these numbers, then they might be all the more likely to send in more troops to overwhelm her and the rest. Placing the tiara back on her forehead for now, she thought about what to do.

* * *

"Uh, hey Zero?" Ohgi asked into the radio. "What the hell is that thing that just attack Sailor Moon?"

" _In truth, I do not yet know._ " he replied. " _It is the first time I have encountered a being like as well_."

"Then what should we-"

" _Ignore it and continue your duties. Leave it to Sailor Moon for now. Despite its appearance, everything is still proceeding according to plan._ "

* * *

Kallen was running to avoid the gunfire, going behind a machine and causing its allies to cease firing for a bit. She attempted to go for her tiara, but the monster was already upon her. Only now was she realizin her mistake of placing it back onto her forehead in this situation. Quickly leaping up to the Frame, she leaped from it to another, keeping most from firing on her to avoid friendly fire. A few shot at her while in the air, but none hit their mark.

"Stay still!" the monster woman shrieked. She was still close by the entire time, so Kallen wouldn't heave much of an opening to go for her only weapon.

"Hell no! I've got no intention of letting you kill me!" she retorted. Getting an idea, she leaped up through the window a building a couple stories up. She figured that this should by her some time, as only the monster lady should be able to follow her right away. And sure enough, the woman was quick to follow her in, and Kallen turned and grabbed her outstretched arm and tossed her across the room. While she was still on the ground, Kallen quickly ran over and with a swift kick, punted her further in. "Not so tough now without your backup, are you?"

The monster lady pulled herself to her feet. "Why you-!"

"I'm done with you!" Kallen then ran forward and grabbed the woman, and punched her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. Then, while it was still recovering, she grabbed it, and spun around a bit for momentum and hurled it out the window that they had come in through. And while the woman was still flying though the air, she reached to her forehead to get her weapon. "Moon Tiara! Boomerang!" she said as she threw it, and the golden disk was propelled forward.

Still going through the air, the monster lady saw the magical attack coming for her, but could do little to protect herself or avoid the attack. And so, the disk went right through her, cleaving right through her waist and cutting her in half. And with that, her body turned pitch black, and she crumbled away into dust or ash.

"Well, that sure takes care of that." Kallen then looked down at the battlefield, and watched as more and more troops seemed be entering the area. She figured it was just about time for Zero's plan to going off. Which meant she should probably get to safety.

* * *

Elsewhere, Jadite was holding an orb of energy, when suddenly the orb dispersed completely. "Hm? The Youma I lent Clovis has been defeated?" He was confused. Even if it was a weak Youma, she shouldn't have been able to be defeated.

* * *

Clovis watched in horror at the display before him, all the signals lost on the screen. Things had somehow gone from bad to worse for him. Not only had he lost practically all of his forces, but the Youma had been destroyed as well! And that single girl that had been reported, as well as the other man that the Youma had told him about. But he would have to worry about that later. For now, he would need something to turn the tide of battle. Anything! "Connect to ASEEC! Immediately!"

"Yes, your Highness?" Lloyd asked, eagerness clear in his tone of voice.

"You offered your help earlier, correct? What is it that you have to offer?"

"Why, I'm glad that you asked!" As he said that, and data appeared on the screen in his place. The data also contained the image of a brand new Knightmare Frame. "My latest work, the Seventh Generation Knightmare Frame, Lancelot."

"Can it win?"

* * *

Kallen looked over the decimated battlefield of the ghetto, which had gone exactly as he predicted. She had to admit, he was a pretty good leader to pull this off. She was about to go meet up with him when she noticed something zooming in to the battlefield, and disabled a couple Knightmare Frames belonging to her friends, and causing them to eject. They were safe, but Kallen wasn't about to let this guy mess with them.

Leaping down, she took a good look at the new KMF, and saw that it was definitely a brand new model. It was nothing like a Glasgow or Sutherland, and was certainly much faster. Reaching for her tiara, she yelled out "Moon Tiara! Boomerang!" and threw it at the new KMF. As it flew at it, it stopped, and Kallen was sure that she'd score a direct hit. However, much to her surprise, it raised its arm to block, and instead of slicing through it, it instead struck what appeared to be a green energy shield, and bounced off of it harmlessly.

Well that sure wan't good.

And after that, the Knightmare Frame ignored her and proceeded on. "Hey! Don't just ignore me!"

* * *

In the cockpit of the experimental Knightmare Frame Lancelot, its pilot, a Japanese teen by the name of Suzaku Kururugi carried out his mission of defeating the terrorists. And as he did, he recalled the events of earlier.

Yes, earlier, he had gone into Shinjuku on orders to help eliminate the terrorists, as well as help in the search of cargo that may have been stolen from a transport that had been attacked the other day. And much to his surprise, he had encountered an old friend that he hadn't seen in seven years; Lelouch. His dear friend from childhood. He had been glad to know that he was okay, that he was still alive after all these years, and assumed his sister was as well. Still, the circumstances of the meeting were not very the most ideal. His mission still stood after all. Lelouch had been with a strange girl, and his superiors had also arrived. He had been ordered to execute Lelouch, and had refused. And so, he had been shot, and passed out. But luck had been on his side, and his father's watch that he kept on him deflected the bullet from causing any fatal harm, and he had been recovered and lived. And when he woke up, he had met Lloyd, which was what led him to his current situation piloting the Lancelot.

And now, he intended to defeat the terrorists to end the slaughter here in the ghetto, so that the military would leave after accomplishing their goals. And doing so would hopefully save Lelouch and that girl, if they were even still alive. But he would worry about that later.

And as he carried it out, he suddenly heard someone yell out something strange, and turned to see a girl leaping down at him, and a strange projectile being thrown at him. Using the Lancelot's Blaze Luminous shields, and deflected it to the ground. Much to his surprise, it was a tiara of all things. As he looked over to the girl who landed, he got a good look at what she was wearing. Of all things, she was dressed in a strange sailor uniform with a pretty short miniskirt. But he quickly returned to his duties of eliminating the terrorists, and turned around and continued.

"Hey! Don't just ignore me!" he heard yelled out, and turned back around to see her flying at him. He raised his arms to block, and actually felt his KMF shake a bit from the force of the impact. "But how?" he let out, surprised that anyone could have such strength. There didn't appear to be enough significant damage, but it still came as a bit of a shock. Landing on her feet, she leaped up, much higher than he would have expected. She would have landed on the Lancelot, but his reflexes got him away, and she simply landed. Leaping back, she picked up the tiara that was lying on the ground.

"Moon Tiara!" she yelled out as she threw it, it now spinning like a disk again. Once again, he deflected it with his shields, not wanting to risk any potential damage from an attack that he didn't understand. Suzaku was amazed by all of this. Here he was fighting, of all things, a Magical Girl! This whole day was just filled with all sorts of completely unexpected surprises.

Even though she was likely the enemy, he couldn't bring himself to attack her. Strange abilities or not, she was still human and not in a Knightmare Frame. He didn't want to hurt her. But still, she wasn't giving him much choice. As she was upon him again, he went to grab her, but she nimbly avoided his arm.

As the battle continued, he noticed that the Magical Girl's movements appeared to be getting a bit sloppier. In fact, upon closer inspection, he could tell fatigue had to be setting in on this girl. Maybe if he could wear her down a little, he might be able to leave without having to harm her. However, as things continued between the two, he noticed on his sensor a Knightmare had appeared behind him, and he knew it had to be one of the ones that had been captured by the terrorists. Rushing in, it fired on him with its gun. Avoiding the shot, Suzaku moved the Lancelot in and intended to strike it with a kick, but to his horror, the Magical Girl got in the way, and he struck her. "No!" he yelled out as she flew into a nearby wall and fell in to a heap on the floor. He was worried that he might have killed her, but was relieved as he watched her struggle to her feet.

As he wondered what he was going to do next, another surprise came about.

" _Attention all forces! Cease fire at once!_ " a voice said over his intercom. A voice than was easily recognized as that of Prince Clovis himself. This surprised many, both military and terrorist alike. " _I Clovis, Third Prince of Britannia, and royal viceroy of Area 11, hereby command you! All forces are ordered to cease fire at once! You will also cease destruction on any buildings or property! All casualties, whether Britannian or Eleven, shall be treated equally and without prejudice! In the name of Clovis la Britannia, you are herby ordered! Cease fire at once! I shall allow no further fighting!_ "

Though surprising, Suzaku was glad to hear such news. Now, the fighting would stop, and the citizens would even receive help. Now, he just hoped that Lelouch and the girl were safe. But for now, he began to make his retreat.

* * *

As Kallen struggled to her feet, her whole body was sore from the pain she now felt. Still, she didn't hurt as badly as a normal person should, and was glad at least for that. It should pass, as she could tell she didn't seem to be injured too badly. She now assumed that her durability had also been enhanced with her strength and agility. As she looked over, she watched the nearby Sutherland's cockpit opened, and saw Ohgi come out. "Hey! You okay? You just took quite the beating!" he said with concern.

"I think I'll be fine." she replied.

"Heh, you really are amazing."

"Thanks. Anyway, I'm gonna get going. You should help out the people here, Ohgi."

"Thanks, Sailor-Wait, how do you know my name?"

Mentally kicking herself for that, she replied. "I think I heard someone call you that. Anyway, I should be going." And with that, she quickly leaped away so that he couldn't follow. Now, she figured that she should probably find that girl C.C. and maybe Zero.

* * *

Elsewhere, C.C waited as someone approached. Looking over, she saw it was Zero. "I have to thank you for this power you've given me." he said as he removed the mask. "This Geass, as well as the superhuman power I've gained."

"Glad you like it, Lelouch."

"And what about the other girl, the one you called Sailor Moon. Did you also give her power and a Geass?" He was curious about her. He easily recognized her, Kallen Stadtfeld from school. He had even bumped in to her this morning. But the question was, just who was she? Despite her sickly reputation, she had seemed to be in great physical condition. He would have to interrogate her when he got the chance tomorrow.

"No, her power is different than yours. I simply gave her the ability to call it, like I did with you. As for Geass, I didn't make any contract with her." she replied. That was a bit interesting. So only he had received Geass when the girl had awakened power within himself. But why?

"And why did you give us this power? What are you after?"

"I simply have a task that has been given to me. I have to find specific people, and a special item. And there is also a matter of dealing with enemies."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean?"

"You certainly ask a lot of questions." She said simply, and nothing after that. He could tell he wasn't going to get anymore on that subject, so he moved on to the next.

"And what are you going to do now?"

She shrugged. "I'll go where I please, I suppose. Though I'll be sticking close to you both. I'll have to keep an eye on both of you."

"Me and that girl Kallen, right? So, what have you told her so far?"

"Nothing yet. There is a bit I have to tell her, haven't gotten around to it yet."

"And why did you give her the name Sailor Moon? Are we not supposed to know each other?"

"That is simply the title she has inherited with the power. Whether you two know each other and who you both are is your own business." That was good. He'd prefer to keep his identity a secret. "Now, I've got just one question for you."

"And that is?"

"What are you going to do with the power I've given you?"

Lelouch couldn't help but chuckle as he put back on his mask. "That is simple; I plan to destroy Britannia!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go. One of the things that was hard to decide was "How strong should Kallen be in relation to Knightmares?" I had considered dropping them, like a couple of the Code Geass mangas, but kept them in in the end. I'd like to think I hit a good spot on that. After all, I didn't want Kallen to be too powerful. Then what would be the point of a team?
> 
> I will say this, I did regret not including a meeting between Suzaku and Lelouch last chapter. Couldn't get a good meeting idea and subsequent events to play out to my liking, so I decided I'd have it implied and have Suzaku recall it. Didn't like doing it, but I've made my decision, so I'll just have to live with it.


	3. Act III: Welcome to the Student Council

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of the Code Geass or Sailor Moon franchises.

Kallen yawned as she awoke to the sound of her alarm, looking to the clock and confirming that she hadn't overslept again. She had pretty much crashed after yesterday. She briefly wondered if yesterday had been nothing but a dream, but that thought was quickly dismissed as she saw the brooch on her bedside table. "Sailor Moon, huh?" she said as she got dressed, thinking about it. As she got dressed, wondered what would happen now. What should she be doing with her new found power now? What came next? She hadn't found C.C. yesterday, which was unfortunate, as she still had more questions. Still, maybe she would run in to her again. For now, she would simply go back to her normal life. Well, as normal as her life could be considered.

Fixing the brooch to her school uniform, she next wondered to the other person that she had met yesterday, the masked man called Zero. Just who was he? Obviously, he was no ordinary person. Just like she now did, he possessed superhuman abilities. She wondered what his reasons for showing up in Shinjuku was. She was grateful for his help, but she did wonder what he was after. Why did he help them? She wanted to find out the answers to these questions badly. But for now, she would have to focus on school.

On her way out, she tried to ignore the maid that was her mother cleaning nearby. But sure enough, she spoke up. "Oh, good morning Miss Kallen." she said with a smile. Every time she did that, it really pissed Kallen off. She hated how her mother had no pride, and had stooped so low as to work as a maid in this house. And she always acted like her own daughter was her master!

"Good morning." Kallen said, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

"You seem well now. When you arrived home last night, you seemed to be so exhausted."

"Thats not really any of your business." Kallen said continuing on without stopping.

"Still, I'm glad that you seem better." That probably pissed Kallen off even more. No matter how she was treated by her, her mother always smiled as if nothing was wrong. Kallen hated it. She wanted her mother to get fed up with all of this, and leave this house behind. But no, she stayed here, working as a mere maid in the home of a man who had fathered her children and was never here, working under the wife who treated her like dirt, and where her own daughter was rude and uncaring to her. It may be hard for the Japanese in Japan these days, but her mother still deserved so much better than this.

Putting her mother out of her mind, she left her home for school. As she did, she didn't notice that she was being watched. Though in all honesty, no one would really notice that a cat was watching them.

* * *

Elsewhere, in an unknown location, a woman with long red hair in a dark purple dress sat at a throne, looking into a crystal ball in front of her. Before her was Jadeite, who was kneeling in respect for her. "Jadeite, have you made any progress in locating the Legendary Silver Crystal yet?" she asked him.

"Forgive me, Queen Beryl, but I have not." he replied. "In addition, we may have acquired a hindrance to our plans."

"What do you mean?"

"Well helping my collaborator, Prince Clovis, yesterday, a Youma I had lent him to gather energy for us was destroyed by an unknown factor. In addition, Prince Clovis was killed."

"I see. And what do you plan to do now, Jadeite?"

"Working with the Britannian prince gave me more freedom to gather energy, so his loss is an unfortunate setback." Indeed, it had been a simple matter to use him to work within the Britannian system to gather energy, often from the Elevens, and could help keep things out of the public eye. "But I have already begun to prepare a new strategy in its place. I will simply begin to act more discreetly without him."

"Very well. Keep in mind that we must gather energy for our great ruler, as well as finding the Silver Crystal."

"Of course, Queen Beryl." Jadeite said before taking his leave.

* * *

Kallen took her seat in class, having arrived on time. As students filed in, she took note that one of them was the boy she had bumped in to yesterday. Of course he was in her class. Why wouldn't he be? She hated her luck. She just hoped that he wouldn't go spreading around that she wasn't really sick and such. As much as she hated the act, it was her cover story. It was a perfect way to explain multiple absences often. She also could have sworn that he had been staring intently at her for a moment, but maybe it was just her imagination. But then again, maybe he was staring because of yesterday.

In the back of class, Lelouch took his seat, and a boy with blue hair leaned in. "See something you like? Don't think I didn't notice you checking her out. Have you got a thing for her?"

"Its not like that, Rivalz. I just ran in to her yesterday on my way out of school." Lelouch told her. Though, it was rather she had literally ran into him.

"Ah, you don't have to be modest with me." Rivalz said with a chuckle. "Although, come to think of it, where did you go yesterday?"

"It was a personal matter. Don't worry, I didn't go gambling without you."

It was around this time that the teacher entered. "Okay class, settle down. I have an announcement to make." the teacher said, getting everyone's attention. "It is pretty short notice, but a new student has transferred to our school today. She'll be joining your class as of now."

Kallen was only half paying attention during the announcement. She didn't really care about some new student transferring in. It wasn't as if it affected her, after all. Or so she thought. Her jaw dropped, and she could only gape in shock as she watched the new student walk in.

"Class, this is, uh, I don't believe I got your name, Miss...?"

"Just call me C.C." she stated uncaringly.

"What is with the new girl?" one student whispered to her friend next to her. And she wasn't the only one. Many were perplexed by the new student before them. After all, who went by a name like "C.C." anyway? It was more like initials than a name. Kallen herself wondered if they stood for anything.

Taking an empty seat next to Kallen, she sent a glance her way. She wondered what the girl was playing at. "Would you mind showing me around after class? I only just got here, so I'm unfamiliar with the layout."

"Uh, sure."

* * *

"Things certainly have become a mess." a Britannian officer with green hair said. He was Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald. Yesterday had been bad enough just with the battle. That girl who somehow could fight against Knightmare Frames with a stupid piece of jewelry. Her movements should have been inhuman. It shamed him to know that even he had been bested by that girl.

But Prince Clovis's assassination on top of that? It was undeniable that yesterday had been a complete disaster. Worst of all, Clovis's aide was covering up the murder as well, most likely to cover his own incompetence. And using excuses like being unable to remember anything! What a disgrace!

"However, Lord Jeremiah, with Clovis gone, we Purebloods-" his right hand woman, Villetta Nu, began. However, he politely silenced her.

"Just leave everything to me. We still need to drum up support for us." Jeremiah said with a devilish grin.

"Yes, of course. Forgive me." She apologized. Villetta was the ideal subordinate. Despite her commoner background, she had rose up through the ranks, her drive for success spurring her forward. And above all, she was loyal, a quality he greatly appreciated and respected.

"There is no need for that. I'm already taking the necessary steps." Jeremiah said. "In the mean time, take the day off. There isn't much for you to do at the moment, and you have earned it."

"Yes, sir." she said. She was glad for his generosity, as it would give her some time to clear her head. She was still confused about yesterday's events. Not only for the girl, but because of other details. Indeed, for she had never faced her herself. Rather, she recalled a mysterious figure yesterday, and there was a gap in her memory, during which she was among the ones whose Sutherlands had been appropriated by the terrorists. She had racked her brain as to how it could have happened, but was completely clueless. All she could remember was that she had found people dead, a single living person, and then suddenly she was standing in the middle of the ghetto without her Knightmare.

* * *

"Okay, what are you doing here?" Kallen demanded as she led the mysterious girl on a mock tour.

"Going to school. That should have been obvious."

"Oh, don't give me that excuse. I'm not buying it."

"Zero helped make the arrangements for me. It was a good way to keep close to you." Zero? So she was working with him in some way now?

Eventually, the two reached a bit of a secluded spot on the school grounds. "Why did you give me this?" she said gesturing at her brooch.

"I told you; You were chosen."

"What does that even mean?" C.C. shrugged. Kallen then noticed that she seemed to be looking past her, and turned to see the familiar boy from yesterday. "Um, is there something I can help you with?" she asked, switching back to her sick girl act. She wondered if he had heard anything.

"Answer my questions." Lelouch said as he activated his Geass.

"Of course." Kallen said, falling under the effects of his power.

"Kallen Stadtfeld, are you Sailor Moon?"

"Yes, I am." As he thought. He was generally good at remembering faces, so it was unlikely

"You received your power yesterday, correct?"

"I did. C.C. gave it to me when I met her yesterday."

"What were you doing in the ghetto? Did someone call you to meet them there?" He had figured that C.C. had been the one to call him there. Had she also called Kallen there to give her the power as well?

"No. I am a member of the resistance cell based in the Shinjuku ghetto." That caught his attention. He had gathered a possible connection yesterday, but it was good to get a confirmation to the suspicions.

"Why are you a terrorist?"

"Because I am Japanese, though I'm also half Britannian." Ah, that made sense. Being a half blood, it wasn't impossible that she could lean towards her Japanese heritage over her Britannian side. And with his own disdain for the country and especially his father, he could definitely respect the choice.

"And if you're part of the group, why didn't anyone recognize you yesterday?"

"I don't know. While I'm Sailor Moon, for some reason, no one else can recognize me. Neither the monster woman or my comrades could tell it was me." Now that was an interesting bit of information. But what puzzled him was why he alone could recognize her just fine. Was it because he had a similar power? He looked to C.C. who just shrugged, cluing him in that it was pointless to ask her, as she either didn't know or just wouldn't tell.

"And my last question, do you know who Zero is?"

"No, I don't." Good. He could still keep his identity a secret.

As the effect of his Geass wore off, Kallen looked at him in confusion, having no memory of the conversation that they had just had. "Um, can I help you with something?" she repeated, wondering what he was doing here.

"Ah yes, about yesterday..." he said with a smirk. This set off a warning signal. She knew this was coming. He was going to confront her on bumping in to him yesterday, when she looked anything but sick.

"Hey, Lelouch! What are you doing over here?" a voice called out, and Kallen saw a blond girl approaching followed by a girl with long orange hair. "Oh, what do we have here? Some alone time with a couple of girls? Lelouch, I never knew you had it in you!"

"Milly! Lulu isn't like that!" the orange haired girl protested.

"Actually, Milly, it is about this girl here." the boy, she now knew was known as Lelouch, said. She recognized the name. She had often heard the girls who hung around her and thought they were her friends talk about him. He seemed to be quite popular with the girls here at this school. "I'm sure you recognize Kallen."

"Kallen Stadtfeld, the sick girl who is often absent, right?" the blond, Milly, said.

"Well, you see, yesterday, I bumped into her." Uh oh, here in came. She wondered if she could take them out right here. "She really does seem quite sickly." Wait, what? She looked at him, and he simply smirked. Why was he making something up like that? What was his game? "After our encounter, I took the liberty of looking in to her, and saw that she wasn't in any clubs, which is still mandatory, correct?"

"Why yes, it is." Kallen wondered where this was going.

"I think it might be best if she is assigned to a group that wouldn't be as stressful for her. Perhaps maybe our own?"

"Why, that sounds like a great idea. Welcome to the Student Council, Kallen!"

' _What the hell just happened?_ ' a speechless Kallen thought.

"You're gonna have a lot of fun on the council, Kallen!"

"Fun, you say?" C.C. spoke up finally. Kallen had actually forgotten that she had been there this whole time.

"Oh, you're the new girl, right?" Milly asked.

"Yes. I'm afraid I don't really have any friends here, yet. Do you happen to have any more room on the council?"

"Why, that sounds like a great idea! The more the merrier!" Milly then took Kallen by the wrist. "With two new members, this calls for a party! Shirley! " She turned to the orange haired girl.

"Yes?"

"Go get Rivalz and Nina! Tell them we've got two new members and we're having a party! We've got to get everything ready!" Agreeing, the girl she now knew as Shirley jogged off to find the two she had been commanded to.

"But I-"

"If we're having a party," C.C. interjected, "Then I would personally like for there to be pizza."

"Sure, why not." Milly quickly agreed. She was never one to waste a chance for a party. Whatever they ate at them didn't really matter much.

"Don't I get a say-"

"Lets go, Kallen." C.C. gestured by giving her a gentle shove. With everything going on, she was unsure how to react. Which left her at the mercy of Milly who dragged her along. She was a bit tempted to go for her knife, but recalled what had happened to it yesterday.

"C'mon, Lelouch! Get a move on!" Milly called out.

"Coming!" As Lelouch watched her get dragged away by Milly. It was a stroke of fortune that Milly had shown up when she had. He was wondering how best to keep her in a position close to him without her getting suspicious. He was simply going to use his Geass to make her forget bumping in to him yesterday, and work out a plan later. But now, on the Student Council, he could interact without having to bring suspicion to himself. And as a bonus, C.C. had took it upon herself to join in, which meant that he could also interact with her without Kallen getting suspicious. Still, he'd have to make her forget how their first encounter really went though when he got the chance.

* * *

"Okay, so we couldn't throw a party just yet." Milly said, pouting a little. She could get away with almost anything short of murder at Ashford Academy, but there was still some rules even she had to abide by. One of which was that even she had to go to class. "But now, we're gonna have a great time!" she was guiding Kallen through the school grounds against the redhead's will.

"But, I don't-" Kallen tried to protest but was quickly silenced. She hated how pushy Britannians could be.

"No buts, young lady!" Milly told her. "This is your welcoming party, so you're gonna like it and enjoy yourself!" Kallen wasn't sure how to deal with this girl at all. She looked back to see C.C. following behind them to the school gates, who seemed to be enjoying the situation. When they got to the school gates, she saw Shirley waiting with two others; a boy will blue haired, and girl with green hair and glasses. "Hey there! So where is Lelouch?"

"He said he'll be here soon." the blue haired boy said.

"So, these are the new members?" the other girl asked in a rather timid tone.

"Yep. Kallen Stadtfeld, and the new transfer student, C.C." Mily introduced the two. "You've already met Shirley earlier, and these are our other two members."

"Kallen, huh?" the blue haired boy said, and Kallen noted his tone and expression seemed to be rather...well, it reminded her a bit of how Tamaki was at times. So she definitely didn't like where this might be going. "Anyway, my name is Rivalz."

"And I'm Nina." the glasses girl said meekly.

"So, Lelouch recommended you, right Kallen?" Rivalz asked.

"Uh, yeah, I suppose..." she replied.

"Anything going on between the two of you that we should know?" he asked, and both Kallen and Shirley's faces turned bright red from embarrassment.

"WH-WHAT!?" they let out in near perfect unison.

"I told you earlier not to get the wrong idea." Lelouch said as he arrived, pushing a wheelchair with a girl sitting in it. Kallen noted that her eyes were closed. She felt bad for the poor girl, both unable to walk or see. "Honestly, I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around spreading false rumors about me."

"Ah, sorry, just having a little fun." Rivalz said with a laugh. Kallen wasn't sure whether he meant it or not.

"I know you've already met Lelouch, and this cute girl here is his little sister, Nunnally." Milly said.

"Its nice to meet you." the girl said sweetly.

"I'm still in middle school, so I'm not actually on the council."

"Oh, that doesn't matter. You're an honorary member in our eyes." Rivalz said.

"Quite the interesting bunch this is." C.C. spoke up.

"Yeah, I suppose it is." Kallen remarked. "So, uh, where are we going?"

"Well, normally, I just have parties here, but today, I heard about a place that is having a special today. Things are really cheap." Milly explained, holding out a flyer for a new restaurant that had opened up. And in honor of it's grand opening, it's prices were cheap. It was guaranteeing that the food was excellent. "So, I thought we might as well check this place out."

"The Dark Restaurant, huh? Sounds kinda gloomy, don't you think?" Rivalz commented.

"Yeah, but the flyer doesn't look that way at all." Milly replied.

"I'm fine with it. Its always nice to give new things a chance." Shirley added.

"As long as I can get pizza, I don't care where we go." C.C. joined in.

"Then its settled!" Milly said.

"Why can't I get a say in any of this..." Kallen lamented, resigning herself to being dragged along.

As the group left the school grounds, a top the main wall sat a black cat that was watching the group depart. It had a crescent moon symbol on its forehead, but that wasn't the most unusual thing about this cat. "Finally found you again, C.C." Indeed, the strangest thing about this cat was that it could talk. "And it looks like you already found Sailor Moon."

* * *

Not long after, the group arrived at their destination, The Dark Restaurant, which looked like anything but. The place was bright decorated and well lit, and the atmosphere was rather cheerful, with music playing throughout the dining hall.

"Wow, this place looks amazing!" Rivalz remarked.

"Sure does! If the food taste even half as well as this place looks, it'll be delicious!" Shirley added

"Its certainly... extravagant." Kallen said. She had to admit, the place did look good. She was still reluctant, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Hopefully this place wasn't all flash and no substance.

"Hello." a woman greeted them with a smile. "Are you all here to dine?"

"Yup. Party of eight. How long will the wait be?" Milly said.

"Oh, no wait at all. We've got plenty of room."

"Wow, that sure is convenient, I thought a place like this would be packed." Rivalz said.

"This place sure seems great already." Shirley said.

"Go on in and have a seat at any empty table." the host gestured, and for them to go in.

The group followed, though C.C. put her hands on Kallen's shoulder. "I wanted to speak with Kallen privately for a moment. We'll catch up."

"No problem. Try not to take too long." Milly said as everyone went in.

"Come with me." C.C. gestured, and the pair exited the building.

As they walked out, Villetta Nu walked in. As she went to the front, the hostess greeted her. "Hello, welcome to The Dark Resturant. Are you here to dine?"

"Yes, I think I will."

* * *

Outside, C.C. led Kallen away, and into a more secluded alley nearby. "So what did you need to talk to me about?" Kallen asked.

"I wanted to introduce you to someone." C.C. replied, looking around. "I noticed you following, Luna." C.C. called out.

"Thats good." a voice replied, and Kallen wondered who Luna was. Looking around, she didn't see anyone else in the alley, though a cat stepped out from behind the dumpster. Kallen was about to ask who was there, when, much to her surprise, the cat spoke up. "Its nice to meet you. So you're Sailor Moon?"

Kallen stared down at the animal before her for a good minute before finally speaking. "...my life is just gonna keep getting weirder and weirder, huh? Whatever." she muttered. She wasn't prepared to encounter a talking cat, but after yesterday, she could take something like this ins trides. "Uh, yeah, I guess. My name is Kallen."

"My name is Luna. C.C. and I are allies." Luna explained. "I'm sure she explained already, but you are the one chosen to become to become the guardian."

"Uh, not really. She hasn't told me anything other than that."

"I should have expected as much..." Luna said, and Kallen was gathering a certain pattern of behavior about her new green haired acquaintance. "Well, you have been chosen to become the guardian to face the enemy. But beyond that, you also have to find the other guardians, as well as our princess."

"So there are others? How are we going to find them?"

"Well, two of them, I've already met. I just have to find them again." C.C. said.

"Wait, if you already found them why didn't you give them their power then?"

"The time wasn't right. And we had to find you first before they were necessary." C.C. shrugged. "And I met them both a much longer time ago than before yesterday."

"Well, you sure are helpful..."

"You'll get used to her." Luna told her. Kallen wasn't sure of that though.

"Regardless, for now, why don't we go back inside?" C.C. suggested. "I actually am hungry, after all. I want pizza."

* * *

Not long after that, the pair returned to the restaurant, and joined the others at their table. "Did you guys order yet?" Kallen asked as she took a seat. She had actually considered ducking out of this while she still had the chance back outside, but decided against it. She wasn't sure why, though. Besides, C.C. probably wouldn't let her with how adamant she seemed about getting pizza. She was practically obsessed with it.

"Not yet." Shirley replied. "We wanted to wait for you both, seeing as this is the welcoming party for you two."

"Check out the menu, though!" Rivalz said as he flipped through it. "They've got pretty much any food you can think of here!"

"It certainly is a big selection." Nina agreed. "Its almost a little overwhelming."

"What are you going to get, Lelouch?" Nunnally asked. "I'll have whatever you're having."

"Well then, I'll be sure to pick something good for the both of us." he replied with a smile, the warmth in his voice making it clear to all how much he cared about his sister. Kallen had to admit to herself, even she found it sweet. It almost reminded her of her own brother. Actually, for a moment, she felt as if it reminded her of something else, but the feeling quickly passed, making her wonder what just happened.

"So, you gonna take a look through the menu, or what?" Milly asked her, returning Kallen's awareness to her current location. "You haven't even opened it."

"Oh, sorry." Kallen said. "I kinda spaced out for a moment." Flipping through the menu, she was amazed by the selection. The others weren't kidding when they said that this place had practically everything. She wasn't sure what to get.

"What about you, C.C.? You going look through it?"

"I don't need to. I'm only interested in having pizza. If they don't have it, then I won't be getting anything." Kallen rolled her eyes at that, and watched the hostess escort a group out. They looked content from the meal, though maybe a bit tired. Almost dazed, she noted.

* * *

Elsewhere, Jadeite grinned as he watched the human's energy flow to him and form a sphere. Humans were so easy to draw in. Constantly at the mercy of their whims, with a small catalyst, it was easy to harness those yearnings into energy. Like the restaurant that the Youma had opened today. With a few simple flyers, it had already drawn in so many people. After indulging themselves in the food, they were ripe to begin extraction.

Still, he would need to look into the events of what happened in Shinjuku. Had it been a fluke, or was it intentional? Was the green-haired girl that Clovis was after involved? Considering her immortality, he had suspected a possible connection to the Legendary Silver Crystal that they were seeking. There were too many unknowns, and that was a problem.

But for now, he would put that out of his mind. After all, his plan was going along smoothly. He would surely gather plenty of energy this way.

* * *

At the table, the hostess arrived, bringing everyone their food. C.C. grimaced as her pizza was placed before her. "Wow, that sure was fast!" Rivalz remarked.

"Only the best service here." the hostess said with a smile.

"And it all looks so good!" Shirley marveled.

"I'll say." Milly said. "Smells great too."

Kallen couldn't help but agree. She couldn't wait to dig in and enjoy the meal. But before that, nature called. "I need to use the restroom real quick. I'll be right back." she said, excusing herself as she got up.

"If its not too much trouble, could I come too? I need to as well." asked Nunnally.

"Of course. I don't mind helping you find it." Kallen replied. Despite being Britannian, Nunnally seemed like a nice girl. She couldn't pinpoint why, but she just liked her for some reason. Maybe she just felt sorry for the girl, but something told her that wasn't all there was to it. Either way, she was still such a sweet girl.

Taking the back of her wheelchair to guide her, the left the table. Heading in to the back of the dining hall, the two of them looked around, wondering where it might be. They were hoping to ask the hostess, but she appeared to have disappeared off somewhere. With no other choice, they entered in to the back room. Looking around for the bathroom, she noticed an open door up ahead. Wondering if it was the desired bathroom, she peeked through and Kallen let out a gasp at what she saw.

"Whats wrong, Kallen?" Nunnally asked, obviously unable to see exactly what had shocked the redhead. Inside the room were groups of people, all laying on the ground. Kalen recognized one of them as the group she watched leave before.

"This is terrible..."

"What are you doing back here?" a sinister sounding voice asked from behind them, and the turned to see the Hostess, now looking very angry.

"What are you doing to these people?" Kallen demanded.

The woman before them chuckled. "Why, I am draining these humans of their energy." she replied simply, and the alarm in Kallen's head went off. She instantly recalled the woman from yesterday, and what she had been doing to the residents of Shinjuku. Which could only mean...

"When you say "these humans," are you trying to say that you're not one?" she asked.

The woman laughter only grew louder. "Very astute of you!" she replied, her body already beginning to transform. Her skin turned a pale white, her hair grew out until it touched the floor, and her face twisted and contorted. "Now, I'll have to get rid of you two!" She then lunged at Kallen and Nunnally. Grabbing Nunnally out of her chair, Kallen barely avoided the new monster woman's attack, and kicked Nunnally's wheelchair at her to knock her off balance. "Why you little...!"

"Kallen, what is going on?" Nunnally asked worriedly, taking her hand.

"I don't know exactly, but the hostess was some kind of monster and is using this restaurant to lure in unsuspecting people to steal their energy."

Normally, such a story would seem unbelievable, and it'd be even more difficult to convince a girl, unable to see. However, the girl in her arms didn't question it. In fact, she seemed to accept it immediately. "I see. Then leave me behind and get away and warn the others. Don't worry about me."

"What? I'm not just gonna abandon you! You could be killed!" Kallen snapped back. She never thought she would be saying those words to a Britannian girl, but here she was. In fact, Kallen was actually shocked by the girl's decision.

The monster lady laughed as she finally got to her feet. "You two talk as if either of you will get away!" she taunted. "Now, rise up, humans who have given their energy to the great ruler! Wake up and catch them!" As she spoke those words, the people around the room began to stand up and look to Kallen and Nunnally. This was the same as what happened in Shinjuku, a monster was stealing energy from people, and could control them. Only this time she wasn't using her powers yet. She wondered if she could transform, but would she be able to in time? She was surrounded, and Nunnally was in her arms.

Unfortunately, as she contemplated her options, the people had surrounded her. She barely had any room to move. Seeing this, the monster lunged at them once again. Kallen braced herself for the woman's attack, but that feeling never came. Instead, she felt herself being grabbed and whisked away across the room. As she open her eyes, she was shocked to see that she had been saved by an unlikely arrival.

"You're...!" Kallen let out as he placed her down on her feet.

"Who are you!?" the woman demanded from the individual that Kallen recognized all too well.

"I am champion of the weak, and warrior of justice!" he declared as he swung his arm and his cape billowed dramatically. "I am Zero!" Kallen could only roll her eyes at how overly dramatic he was being, but she greatly appreciated the help. "Are you girls alright?" the masked man asked as he turned to them.

"Yeah."

"Thank you." Nunnally said.

"Its no problem at all." he said. He then returned to staring down the monster. "Get out of here. I'll handle this thing."

"Bold words! We'll see about that!" The monster said as she leaped at Zero. Zero simply leaped out of the way. With the monster preoccupied with the masked man, Kallen took this opportunity to grab Nunnally's wheelchair. She'd get the poor girl to safety, then come back after transforming. Placing her in the seat, she wheeled her out of there as quickly as she could. Once back in to the dining hall, she gasped at what she saw.

"What is wrong, Kallen?" Nunnaly inquired.

"Everyone in here is collapsing!" Indeed, she looked from table to table, and saw people growing wearier and struggling to remain conscious. Looking over to their own table, she saw Milly and the others besides Lelouch and C.C., who seemed to be missing. She wondered where they were, before seeing C.C. come in with Luna. "C.C., this place is-"

"Everyone else suddenly began before. I sent Lelouch away to find help." she cut her off. "I'll take Nunnally for now. See if you can find any help as well."

"Right." Kallen quickly agreed, and ran back through the door, Luna following. In the hallway with just Luna, Kallen raised her hand in the air. "Monn Prism Power, Makeup!" she called out and transformed.

"So what happened?" Luna asked.

"I stumbled in to a room where a monster was draining people of energy. I would have been dead if Zero hadn't shown up." she explained.

"Who is Zero?" Luna asked but didn't receive a reply as Kallen went through the door to find Zero still fighting the monster.

"I'm here to help, Zero!" Kallen declared, her hand already going to her forehead.

"Ah, so you have come as well, Sailor Moon." he commented, not taking his eyes off of the monster hostess. "Then let us finish this monster off now!

"Just try!" she said, leaping at Sailor Moon, who called out her attack and threw her tiara at the monster who barely managed to avoid it. She then kicked Kallen in the chest, knocking her out of the room, before leaping out of the room. Pursuing her, Sailor Moon and Zero found her in the main room, trying to make her escape.

"You won't get away!" Zero called out, and his cape shifted and changed, part of it extending out like tendrils and grabbing the monster. "Now finish it off, Sailor Moon!"

"Got it, Zero!" She then held out her tiara. "Moon Tiara! Boomerang!" she yelled out, and threw it at the restrained monster, cutting right through, and she turned to ash before them. And with her death, everyone in the room began to recover. Their job done, the two of them began to leave.

As they did, a certain Britannian military officer watched them as she began to wake up. "Is that... the girl from Shinjuku...?" Villetta wondered.

* * *

"Well, that sure was a mess." Milly said. "I'm really sorry about this whole thing, you guys."

"Its alright, Milly. You had no way of knowing something weird was gonna happen." Rivalz said. After all, who could have predicted a monster? Those weren't supposed to be real, as far as any of them had thought before today.

"Still, its back to throwing our own parties from now on!" Milly Ashford, after all, would never ever be one to get dettered.

"I'm not sure which is safer." Lelouch said with a laugh.

"Hey, so did anyone get a good look at those two people who saved us?" Shirley asked. "I was pretty out of it, but I think I heard one call the other "Sailor Moon.""

"The man who saved me and Kallen said his name was Zero, and that he was a warrior of justice." Nunnally said.

"Wow, that sounds awesome!" Rivalz remarked. It was like something out of the comics he used to read as a child, a couple of real life superheroes fighting monsters!

Kallen remained silent. She found it a bit embarrassing being talked about like they were. Not that they knew that, obviously, but still, she couldn't help but find it weird.

Lelouch, meanwhile glanced over to Kallen, then to his sister. He was thankful that C.C. had warned him about the food when she did. If he had eaten it like the rest, he might not have been able to save them. Still, this had been a good opportunity. He had started to establish his reputation, as well as work with Kallen as Sailor Moon once again. Yes, she would be key to his plans, so he would need to gain her cooperation and trust.

As they all arrived back at school, most went their separate ways. Milly, and the others went to their rooms, while C.C. said she was going to go somewhere as well. Lelouch handed Nunnally over to their maid, whom Kallen was surprised to see was a Japanese woman. Though despite that, Nunnally seemed to be pretty respectful to her. She really was such a nice girl.

"Quite the interesting day, wasn't it?" Lelouch asked her.

"Yeah, I'll say."

"While a bit crazy, things on the student council usually aren't this crazy. Not in this way, at least."

"I sure hope so."

"I'm sure you'll be able to handle, even in your condition." This suddenly reminded Kallen of their encounter yesterday. "Just forget about our encounter yesterday." Lelouch said to her, activating his Geass.

Kallen was a bit confused by what he said, and wondered once again why he was doing all this. "Uh, look, can please keep quiet about that? I, uh, was just feeling really good yesterday. Its not very often, but it does happen." she explained. "I don't know why you did all this, but thanks, I guess."

Lelouch's expression appeared unchanged, but internally, his mind was racing. ' _It didn't work? But why? Did I lose the power? Or perhaps it only work on a person once? How careless of me to not have tested it beforehand._ ' "Its no problem. I just thought it might be interesting."

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Well, she figured that since yesterday, her life was already a lot more interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go, third chapter done. Went with a fairly basic plot for the monster stuff. The main focus was to set up everything. Get Kallen in on the student council, have her formally met Lelouch, introduce Luna, etc. For C.C., I thought it might be interesting to have her go to Ashford, and be more entertaining having her on the student council.


	4. Act IV: Warriors of Justice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of the Code Geass or Sailor Moon franchises.

Kallen made her way to the clubhouse for the student council with C.C. following. This would be her first real day as a member of the council, seeing as yesterday was the failed party.

As they did, Kallen thought about her day. When she had arrived at school this morning, Shirley had greeted her. Now, that alone wasn't all that special. A lot of girls here would hang around her for whatever reasons she couldn't understand. But what made this one different was unlike the rest, she didn't constantly talk about things she had to ignore and pretend to have an opinion on. Rather, the friendly girl simply said hello and walked with her to class, and asked her about herself, telling her she just wanted to get to know her. In class, Rivalz had greeted them too, and mentioned yesterday a bit before class started. Lelouch had showed up right before the bell, though he hadn't said anything to her. Although, she could have sworn that he had looked at her in a weird way for a moment, but figured it had to be her imagination.

All in all, it was a lot different than what she was used to around here. She was used to being around a bunch of shallow and over-privileged Britannians, but something about these guys felt a bit...different. A little more genuine, maybe.

As they neared the clubhouse, something suddenly jumped out and landed on Kallen's shoulder, much to her surprise. Her reflexes nearly kicked in and attacked it, but she managed to stop herself as she saw that it was Luna. "Don't do that! You startled me and I nearly threw you!" Kallen complained.

"Sorry, I'll keep that in mind." she said.

"Anyway, so where have you been?"

"Working on my other mission. Doing my best to try and find any leads on finding our princess and the other guardians."

"I'm guessing that isn't going well."

"You have no idea..." she replied heaving a sigh.

"So what does this princess look like?" Luna remained silent, averting her gaze from the redhead. "You don't know, do you?" The cat could only shake her head sullenly. "This just keeps getting better and better..."

"In the mean time, we still have our other mission; fighting these monsters." C.C. interjected. "After all, they're obviously connected to the enemy."

"So, who is this enemy, anyway?" Luna remained silent once again, and Kallen heaved a heavy sigh. "Geez, this sure is aimless work..."

* * *

As Lelouch sat alone in the conference room for the student council, he glanced out the window and saw Kallen and C.C. approaching. Seeing them reminded him of the issue that he had been giving thought to.

The incident at the restaurant and the one in Shinjuku. Both of them shared a connection, and that were those creatures that had been there. But why? From what he had gathered from C.C., Nunnally, and Kallen while she was Sailor Moon, these monsters seemed to steal energy from humans. The Shinjuku incident implied a connection to Britannia, but the restaurant was more indiscriminate in its targets. If there was a connection, he would have to be careful, so he'd have to adjust his plans as such. He could fight them himself, but that would also make Kallen's cooperation all the more necessary.

Still, this was only a minor issue for now. With his own new power and Geass, he had already formed plans around the two. Now, he'd just need the perfect opportunity for Zero to step out of obscurity and into the public eye. But for now, he'd simply just play things by ear. After all, he couldn't really rush this thing.

A little bit later, Kallen and C.C. entered the room, Luna no longer with them, having stayed outside. "Good afternoon you two." he greeted them.

"You're here already?" Kallen asked.

"Already is an odd choice of words seeing as I live here."

"What? Here in this clubhouse?"

"You met my sister yesterday, right? It'd be too hard for her to live on her own in the dorms, so the principal lets us stay here as a favor." he explained.

"I see. I live off campus, so, I never thought of that."

"By the way, Nunnally wanted you to come by."

"Me? Why?"

"She wanted to thank you personally for you help yesterday. She seems to already have taken quite the liking to you."

"Oh, that was nothing. I didn't do much. Zero is really the one who saved us."

"True, but from what I heard," ' _And saw,_ ' "It was thanks to you that both of you managed to survive."

"I guess. But it was no big deal."

"All the same, she insists. And I can't really say no to my sister."

"But what about the Student Council meeting?"

"There is nothing important going on today."

"But-"

"Oh, just go." C.C. said boredly as she took a seat. "Or do you have an excuse as to why not other than you don't want to?"

"...lets just go." Kallen reluctantly agreed, following him out of the room and down the hall. She didn't really want to, but as her new acquaintance to kindly pointed out, she couldn't actually come up with a good reason why she couldn't. Truth be told, she just felt awkward being by herself with Lelouch. There was definitely something weird about him, but she just didn't know what. After all, he already knew her secret, but hadn't told anyone yet. And he had made her join the student council because of his idea. But why was he doing all this? Was this all some kind of game to him? Did he have something planned? Blackmail?

Eventually the two reached a door that Lelouch opened and announced their arrival. As she entered, they was greeted by their maid Sayoko who informed them that she was going shopping. And walking further in, they saw Nunnally waiting for them near a television which she had been listening to.

"Ah, hello Kallen!" Nunnally greeted them cheerfully, and Lelouch noted that she seemed to be quite a bit more cheerful than usual. "Your timing is perfect. I just finished making tea with Sayoko. You have to join us."

"Oh, but I don't really want to be a bother." All things considered, the timing of their arrival, and what the girl said factoring with what the maid said, and it was obvious to Kallen that things were less coincidences and more exactly as the girl planned their meeting.

"Of course you won't be. We have plenty." Sensing that she wouldn't be getting out of this with anything short of attacking the girl, which she couldn't bring herself to want to do for no good reason, she sighed in defeat and accepted the offer.

To most, Nunnally's attitude towards Kallen didn't seem anything out of the ordinary. The girl was always polite and friendly to everyone. But to someone who knew her as well as her brother, it was most definitely much different. He could tell just how much she liked the older girl, and it actually perplexed him how attached she had grown to the redhead, seeing as this was only their second meeting.

"Kallen, I also wanted to thank you again for your help yesterday." Nunnally said as she brought her wheelchair over to her. "Thank you for saving my life." she said as she took Kallen's hand. Kallen blushed a bit, feeling embarrassed about being put on the spot like this.

"I didn't really do much, though" she said, repeating what she said earlier. "Zero is the one who saved both of us.."

"But you still protected me, even though I told you to leave without me. And that is enough to thank you for."

"You sure do seem fond of Kallen, Nunnally." Lelocuh commented as he took the tea pot from the kitchen and placed it on their dining room table.

"I can't explain it, but to be honest, for some reason it just feels like Kallen is a dear old friend." she explained going to the table.

Lelouch furrowed his brow at that. To be honest, ever since he had first seen her at school, long before even bumping into her the other day, he had immediately felt a strange familiarity about her. In fact, he would never admit it to anyone, but he vividly remembered the moment her first saw her. He was always attentive to most of his surroundings, and that included his classmates, which he always made a point of memorizing them and any important information. So when he had first took note her like he did for everyone, he instantly felt something that he still to this day couldn't figure out what. And like Nunnally, he too felt like he had seen her long ago, but had known her. But he knew for a fact that he had never met her once before. Eventually, he just learned to ignore the feeling.

As for Kallen, she had to admit that there was something about these two that felt different. She even recalled the other day when she had bumped into Lelouch, and that strange feeling. As she took a seat and picked up a tea cup, she suddenly got the strangest feeling of deja vu. However, the feeling passed quickly, lasting only the briefest of moments, leaving her to wonder wonder what the feeling was. Honestly, a part of her found this odd feeling and situation a bit off-putting. After all, here she was about to enjoy tea with a couple of Britannians, and what bothered her most was that she honestly wasn't bothered spending time with them. And this feeling was much different than her earlier feeling with Shirley and Rivalz. ' _I have to be losing my mind._ ' she thought to herself.

Just as they had begun to sip their tea, with Lelouch helping Nunnally, there was a rapid knock on the door. And before they could ask who it was, Rivalz quickly entered, followed by Shirley, and Milly.

"What are you guys-" Lelouch began, but was cut off.

"Sorry, but this is important!" Rivalz said, as he turned on the TV, and to a specific channel.

" _Breaking new! A most terrible tragedy has come to Area 11! Prince Clovis has been assassinated!_ "

Nunnally let out a gasp at that, as Lelouch and Kallen stood up to get a look at it. ' _So, they finally announced it, huh? But why did they wait so long?_ ' Lelouch questioned mentally.

" _After a strange absence yesterday, Prince Clovis was discovered dead today._ " the newscaster said, her tone appropriately solemn for the situation. The scene then changed to a man with green hair. " _Prince Clovis has been taken from us! He fought for peace and justice against all the Elevens! He died a martyr!_ " the man, Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald, said from the press conference that had announced this tragedy. " _We must all bury our sorrow and carry on his will!_ "

" _My ass. The tyrant got what he deserved._ " Kallen thought to herself. Then she realized something. Clovis had been absent yesterday. Could that mean he was killed during the incident at Shinjuku? That might mean that their could have been a connection to the sudden ceasefire.

" _We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news!_ " the newscaster announced as she came back on to the screen. " _The one suspected as the murderer has been captured! According to this report, the suspect is an Honorary Britannian._ " The scene then changed to a boy being escorted by armed soldiers. Lelouch gasped as he recognized the teen. " _Private Suzaku Kururugi. A former Eleven and Honorary Britannian. I repeat, Suzaku Kururugi, arrested for murder!_ "

* * *

"Pardon me for my intrusion, Queen Beryl." Jadeite said as he kneeled down and bowed before his queen.

"Jadeite." she acknowledged him. "I don't suppose you're here to tell me that you have located the Legendary Silver Crystal, are you?"

"I'm afraid not, my queen." he replied reluctantly, remaining in the kneeling position.

"Then why do you stand before me?"

"I believe that someone has begun to act against us." After yesterday's incident, he was certain that he had to resolve the new issue. Once could be coincidence, but twice made it clear that someone was getting in his way. And he would make sure to find out. "The youma that I had sent to gather energy was vanquished."

"I see. And do you have any ideas as to who is interfering with us?"

"Not yet, my queen. But I intend to find out."

"See to it that you do. We can't have anyone meddling with our plans."

"Of course, Queen Beryl."

* * *

It wasn't long after that Kallen was now making her way home. The meeting had been cut short, which included her tea with Nunnally and Lelouch. The younger girl in particular had seemed quite saddened by the news.

As Kallen near the school gates, she recognize someone waiting in front of it. "What are you doing here, C.C.?"

"Giving you a message; Zero wants to meet with you, as Sailor Moon." she stated.

"With me? Why?" She really was curious what the masked man could possibly want with her. After all, considering the circumstances her last two meetings with the guy, she had good reason.

"You'll just have to ask him."

"When?"

"Tomorrow. He is going to also meet with your resistance group."

"What? Why does he want to do that?" That part just raised so many more questions. She really wanted know what this guy was up to. Everything about the masked man was a mystery.

"How should I know?" C.C. replied with a shrug. "I told you everything he told me to tell you." And with that she walked off without another word.

It occurred to Kallen that she knew about as much about her as Zero. Which was next to nothing, unfortunately. She had given her the brooch that gave her power, but not anything about her. "What is with that girl? Just who is she?" Kallen asked the cat.

"To be honest, I'm not sure." Luna replied, her uncertainty clear in her voice. "I just know that she has a connection to us."

"You sure are a bundle of information." Kallen said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. Unfortunately, our memories seemed to be missing in many areas."

"'Our'?"

"I have another associate. He is also gathering information on his own, such as searching for the other Guardians. Since we don't remember enough, we split up to conduct our own separate searches."

"Makes sense, I guess." Kallen said.

"Well, we know enough about her to know that she is on our side. She won't betray us to the enemy." Luna said, then turned back to look in the direction C.C. had gone. "But..."

"But what?"

"To be honest, I feel like she has her own agenda as well. When we first met her, she is the one who confronted us, and told us that she knew of what we were, and what our mission was. She has helped us, seeing as she found you, and at least knows who two of the other Guardians are, but she never seems to share any more info than necessary. She hasn't told us anything about herself."

"I see." Kallen said as she took that in, wondering even more just who this girl was and what she was up to.

* * *

Entering her home, Kallen saw a familiar figure "Oh, whats this? Such a cute cat!" Kallen's mother said as she stroked Luna gently, who was being held by Kallen. "Are you planning to keep it?"

"Yeah, I am." Kallen said, her annoyance evident, though her mother made no reaction to it as usual.

"Whats going on here?" a voice asked out from the top of the steps, and Kallen was graced with presence of the member of this household whom Kallen hated most of all; her step mother. The two absolutely did not get along, for various reasons, and made no such effort to hide their mutual disdain for one another.

"Mistress Kallen has brought home a cat, Lady Stadtfeld." Kallen's real mother said with a bow. "I'll return to cleaning now."

Ignoring the maid, the woman remained focused on Kallen. "Why on earth would you bring an animal into this house?" the woman said with disgust.

"Its absolutely none of your business if I decide I want a pet!" Kallen said back, her annoyance now anger. "I'm not getting rid of her. She is staying."

"Fine, just make sure its clean. I don't want you bringing fleas or other pests in to this home." she said before walking away.

Still sweeping, Kallen's mother spoke up once she was gone. "Have you given it a name?"

"Her name is Luna." Kallen replied.

"Thats a nice one. If you want, I'll make sure to pick up supplies for her on the next shopping trip."

"Thats fine." Kallen said before walking off, Luna looking up to her. Guessing that she was going to ask what was going on back there, Kallen grumbled that she'd explain some other time.

* * *

The next day, Kallen stood in the school's auditorium with the rest of the school's students. Since the Britannian settlements were in mourning, a memorial for Prince Clovis was taking place and being televised, and their school was gathered in the auditorium to watch. "Truly this has been a very painful incident for all! The Viceroy of Area 11, our beloved Prince Clovis, has been lost to us forever."

' _Speak for yourself._ ' Kallen thought to herself. After the incident the other day, there was certainly no tears to shed over that bastard from her. As the memorial went on, she found herself focusing her thoughts on a far more pertinent matter; Zero. The meeting would be after school, and Kallen's curiosity at the situation had only grown. She couldn't figure out what he could want. Did it have to do with another monster appearance? And why would he want to meet with Ohgi and the others?

She had been so preoccupied with these thoughts that she didn't even notice when the memorial service ended. She was only brought out of her thoughts by a hand being placed on her shoulder. "Hey, looks like you spaced out there for a bit." Lelouch said. "The assembly started letting out. School has been canceled, so we've got the day free."

"Sounds great." she said. "I already have plans, though."

Lelouch chuckled. "Don't worry, I wasn't asking you to do anything with me. I already have plans of my own."

"Oh? What are you up to?" Rivalz asked as came up to them, and he put his arm around Lelouch's shoulder. "Is it any-"

"Oh no, you better two better not be planning more gambling!" Shirley protested as she joined them.

"Gambling?" Kallen repeated.

"Don't worry, none of that this time." Lelouch said.

"What? Thats no fun..." Rivalz whined a bit.

"Thats good to hear." Shiley said, then turned to another girl approaching them. "What about you, C.C.?"

"I asked Kallen to help me with something private. she said. "We should probably get going soon."

* * *

"Hm, is this "Suzaku Kururugi" the one responsible for killing Clovis?" Jadeite wondered aloud as he watched the report.

The broadcast was mostly filled with a memorial, meant to tug at the heartstrings of the humans. But it also detailed the plans for the public execution, and Suzaku Kururugi was to be escorted to the trial by Margrave Jeremiah, the acting consul until the new Viceroy was appointed and arrived. It was clearly a show meant to garner the support of the public. And it was definitely something that could be used to his advantage.

"The humans emotions, of anger and sadness, will be sure to be focused during this event. And it will be a perfect opportunity to gather energy from the humans." Whether or not this Kururugi actually was the perpetrator didn't matter. As long as he could gather energy at this execution, he would not let this opportunity pass by.

"Yes, I agree, Master Jadeite." a woman with short brown hair said as she kneeled to him.

"Flau, I want you to infiltrate the Britannian television studio and participate as a member of the crew involved. Make sure that we gather energy from the crowd. And don't let anyone interfere."

"Of course, Master Jadeite."

* * *

In Shinjuku, Ohgi sat with the others in his group, all cautiously watching the girl with green hair who had approached them. C.C. rolled her eyes at the display. As per Lelouch's "script" she had gotten where to find them from Kallen, who had split off from her to transform. They were still wary of her even after she had mentioned her affiliation with Zero and his request for a meeting. In particular, she was already fed up with the vulgar man called Tamaki.

"How do we know this isn't a trap!?" he loudly demanded.

"To be fair, its not as if they would need a trap if they already knew where are base is to send this girl." Ohgi reasoned. He was cautious, but he was also intrigued by the same man who possessed such extraordinary abilities that had saved them before wanted a meeting with them. At the very least, he wanted to hear him out.

"Still, what is this whole thing abut anyway?" Minami asked out loud.

"Your guess is as good as mine." a new voice said, and everyone turned to see a familiar girl walking over to join them.

"You're that Sailor Moon girl!" Tamaki let out in surprise, now more convinced that this whole thing wasn't a hoax.

"Wait, you mean you don't know either?" Inoue asked. "I thought you two were a team."

"Not quite." Sailor Moon said with a sigh. "To be honest, I'm still new to this whole situation. I only just got these powers I have. And I only met him just before you all did, so you all know him as well as I do." All things considered, it was Ohgi and the others, so she could at least trust them with that much, even if she was unwilling to let them know it was her.

"I see. So then we're all in the dark..." Ohgi said.

" _Then allow me to illuminate you!_ " a new voice boomed, and everyone turned up to see Zero standing atop a building, looking down at them. Attention now on him, he then leaped down, landing on his feet easily, and swept his cape out. "I am glad we are all here. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

"Not a problem. We really owe you one after the other day." Ohgi said stepping forward.

"Yes, I will be calling in that dept." Zero said.

"You need a favor?"

"Sorry to butt in, but I want to know what it is you're up to." Sailor Moon asked. "Why did you call all of us here? I wanna know what it is you want." Sure, he was probably about to say what he needed their help for, but she felt better if she was the one asking.

The masked man let out a light chuckle before replying. "Cutting straight to the heart of the matter. But before I answer that, I have to ask which you are referring to; What do I want to do now, or what I plan for the future?"

"Uh..." She was a little caught off guard by that. She had only meant what he wanted since the meeting request had been driving her crazy since yesterday. But the question about his future plans, she now found herself wanting to know. All around, she saw Ohgi and the others exchange glances, and could tell that they were also curious.

"I am Zero, and I consider myself a warrior of justice." he explained as he turned around to look away from them. "So then look around and tell me; Where is the justice of this?" He gestured dramatically at his surroundings, and it was clear he was referring to the ghetto they all stood in. "The people of this nation are forced to endure hardships just to scrape by as they live like second class citizens in their own country. They live such empty lives and exploited by their conquerors. They are powerless, and are trampled beneath the feet of those above. Is that justice? No, of course not."

Zero's words resonated with them, all but Kallen knowing from first hand experience exactly what he was talking about. And even with her, she hated it just as much as them. "We know. All too well..." Ohgi said. "And its for that reason that we resist them.

"You're wrong. Britannia will not fall to terrorism. Its merely a childish nuisance. Your enemy is not people, but the very nation itself." Zero continued on, taking steps forward. "You ask me what I plan to do? Why, the answer is simple." he said as he stopped. "I plan to destroy Britannia!" He said the last part as he turned to face them once more.

Those he had gathered there stood in stunned silence. Declaring that one planned to destroy a nation that controlled one third of the world, and with such confidence, was not a statement that one could make lightly. Though a bold statement, it was definitely one that did appeal to them, however unlikely it might seem. "Is that why you asked us to meet with you? You want us to join you?"

"Yes and no." he replied. "While yes, your help would be appreciated, that is not what I am asking you. Not yet, at least. Whether or not you join me is a choice you all must make for yourselves."

"Then what?"

"Suzaku Kururugi. During his public execution, I plan to liberate him. I'd like your assistance doing so."

"So we're rescuing Clovis's assassin, huh?" Tamaki asked.

"Wrong. Kururugi did not kill Prince Clovis." Zero corrected. "It was _I_ who did it. And I have no intention of letting an innocent man be blamed for my actions."

" _So Zero killed Clovis?_ " Kallen thought to herself. That made sense, she reasoned.

"So, what do you want us to do? I mean, he is going to be heavily guarded." Yoshida stated.

"All I ask of your group is that you take him away safely after I liberate him." Zero stated. "I will handle the guards, with Sailor Moon's help if she is willing to aid me."

She thought over his words earlier. Could he really take down Britannia? Even though he possessed superhuman abilities, could he really do it? Did she believe he could? "Yeah, I'll help. I want to see if you can do what you say or if you're all talk."

Whatever the chances, she wanted to believe.

* * *

As the night of Suzaku's trial had arrived, though calling it a trial was far less than accurate. The verdict had already been decided from the moment the decision to arrest Suzaku had been made. This was merely a show, all part of the Pureblood's plan to further their agenda. And now, Suzaku Kururugi was going to be sentenced in kangaroo court as part of this plot, and then face a public execution.

" _Any moment. Any moment now!_ " the commentator said to the audience at home. " _Its a sight to see, the throngs lining the route. All of them waiting on baited breath! Waiting for the accused murderer of Prince Clovis to pass by! Honorary Britannian and former Eleven, Suzaku Kururugi!_ "

In the news team that was overseeing the event, Flau smirked as she looked to the crowd. As per her suggestion, all participants in the audience had been distributed a flower, in memory of Clovis. And as her master instructed, these flowers would gather the human energy of the crowd.

"Camera 5 is a littler slow. Talk to me, Charles. Your team been deployed yet?" A reporter, his name Diethard Reid said to one of his subordinates. He was the one in charge and was coordinating the show, and had even written the script that the commentator was reading. "What? The studio? Let 'em wait. Nothing's been pushed back! Everything is going according to plan. Here we go..."

Andat the moment, the Sutherland escort came into to view, followed by the car. " _I... I can see them! They have the suspect! Suzaku Kururugi is headed this way!_ "

"Like clockwork." Diethard commented as he turned off his headset. "What a circus this is. And I'm as corrupt as any of them."

As the car passed by the people on the road, they all yelled insults at the Japanese boy, such as "Murderer!" and "Scum." They were exactly the kind of people that Jeremiah wanted there, who led the escort personally, sitting atop his Sutherland from the open cockpit. And on the transport, a pair of armed guards stood with Suzaku, who simply sat in silence. It was all perfect for Flau, enjoying as the anger and sadness on display was gathered by her flowers.

" _Voices of scorn, growing ever louder! Voices bearing testament to a people's love of their prince! Raining their judgment down on a terrorist! Margrave Jeremiah, integral in settling this case will be presiding over the case as acting consul._ " the commentator continued.

" _Yes, let those emotions out. Give your energy to the Great Ruler!_ "

As this was going on, Kallen waited from atop a building, waiting for the escort to reach the position and her cue to appear. As Zero had said, this event was a show, and his intent was to make it their own. " _Just as important as rescuing Suzaku Kururugi, we must be sure to capture the attention of everyone._ " she recalled his words. " _After all, we want to make sure the whole world watches us. And some theatrics make a show more interesting._ "

That said, she was unsure about what she should do. Some big intro and speech, maybe a few poses? It seemed so ridiculous! Still though, Zero had said it was important for their goals, so she had to at least try. Of course, she had no idea what to do. Zero made it look so easy. Should she just say whatever popped into her head? Maybe go with the whole Magical Girl thing?

Meanwhile, as she tried to decide what to do, Jeremiah suddenly received a transmission over his comm. " _Lord Jeremiah._ "

"You have something to report?"

"Yes sir. We have activity. A lone man is in the road and walking in your direction. He is wearing a mask, so he can't be identified."

"I see." A single man? On foot? "Is he armed?"

"He only appears to be holding a sword, sir. He may have a concealed weapon, but-"

"Well now, this certainly should prove amusing. I'll deal with him." Jeremiah said with a laugh. Whoever this fool was, he had guts. Still, he was clearly an idiot. At best, he might be a distraction for an attempt to rescue Kururugi. "All forces, halt here!" Whatever was about to happen, he'd personally deal with it.

Kallen watched from her position as the Knightmares stopped

" _This was not a scheduled stop. Could there have been some sort of accident?_ " the commentator voiced.

" _This is site 5! There is a man approaching them!_ " a reporter on the scene announced. " _He is wearing a mask an cape, and appears to be armed with a sword_ _! And he is heading straight for the cavalcade!_ " Beneath his mask, Lelouch grinned at his plan. Everything was beginning. This would be his public debut as Zero, and his first impression. And he certainly intended to leave a lasting one.

"Halt!" Jeremiah declared as the masked man was now before him, and he obliged his request. "Identify yourself!" Nearby him in the cockpit of her own Sutherland, Villetta felt a hint of recognition at the man who stood in their way.

"I am Zero!" he loudly declared for all to hear. "And I am a warrior of justice!"

" _Who is this person? This man calling himself Zero, standing before a full military convoy! He has declared himself to be a "warrior of justice" but what could he mean?_ " the commentator said over the broadcast.

"A warrior of justice, you say?" Jeremiah said in a mocking tone.

"Zero? What do you mean, like nothing?" Diethard commented out loud. He was certainly intrigued by this new event. Sure, they had been expecting a chance of interference to save Suzaku Kururugi, but they hadn't expected something like this. Just who was this man though? Diethard got the feeling he wasn't affiliated with the JLF. No, this wasn't their style at all. So then, what would happen next?

" _Are we gazing upon terrorists? Certainly not the wisest if that is the case._ "

"I've seen enough, Zero. This little show of yours is over!" Jeremiah said as he fired his gun up. As he did, four Sutherlands dropped down from their VTOL transports, surrounding him. Kallen's first instinct was to drop down and intervene, but she doubted that he'd have any problems with Sutherlands. Plus, based on the fact that he hadn't moved an inch, she also figured he probably wasn't worried. Zero stood there, unflinching to Jeremiah's threats or show of force. "First thing is first, why don't you lose that masks?"

"No." he simply replied.

"You refuse?" Irritation was evident in Jeremiah's voice at the response. Of course, he managed to stay composed as he still clearly had the upper hand. This man's defiance didn't change the fact that he was surrounded. "Fine then. We can always remove the mask from your corpse. Now-"

However, before he could speak another word, Zero drew the sword, and much to everybody's surprise, he leaped up and on top of the Sutherland's and held out his hand and with a bright flash from his palm, it was rendered immobile. Not wasting the opening, he leaped of and dashed over to Jeremiah, and evaded the fire from the remaining units that had surrounded him. Before Jeremiah or anyone else could react, Zero was upon him and with the tip of his sword at Jeremiah's neck.

" _Amazing! With seemingly inhuman abilities, this masked man Zero has attacked the acting consul!_ "

"Unit 6, bring up the sound! And get that camera right in his face!" Diethard ordered. He didn't yet know what was happening, but he wanted it recorded. This Zero was already causing a scene beyond his wildest dreams.

" _But sir, this is dangerous!_ "

"Amateurs!" Diethard said as he turned and grabbed a spare camera and left the van. If you wanted something done right, you better do it yourself, after all.

"Jeremiah Gottwald." Zero spoke up. "I am here to demand the release of Suzaku Kururugi!"

"What? Like hell! He is charged with high treason for murdering a prince! I can't hand him over!"

"No! You're mistaken, Jeremiah. He is no murdered." Zero said, just as Diethard arrived nearby in close next to the Sutherlands. He zoomed in on his face just as he delivered his next words. "The man who killed Clovis... was myself!" The crowd reacted with shock, and Diethard found his mouth slowly forming a smile. All around Area 11, everyone was glued to their seats. The student council members, Nunnally, Ohgi and the others from where they waited, and many others. Kallen also grew anxious from her waiting point.

After a moment that seemed like an eternity, Zero continued. "I delivered my justice to Clovis for his cruel actions, and I will not apologize for what I have done. But I will also not allow you to punish an innocent man what what I have done! And so, I stand here before you to demand the release of this man. And if you do, I will spare your life this time. I believe that sounds like a fair bargain."

Diethard was now grinning madly at this whole situation. ' _This is all one big performance to him!_ ' He was loving every single second of it. And he wanted more! He needed to know what would happen next. How would Jeremiah respond? And then how in turn would Zero react?

"You have a lot of nerve then, showing yourself here." Jeremiah retorted. Things may have changed, but Jeremiah was a proud man. Indeed, while he wished to carry out his scheme, he was definitely willing to give his life for the empire, and punish a man who had taken the life of one of the Imperial Family. "I would rather die knowing that you would come to hell with me, than live in disgrace knowing I had cowered before you. All units, forget about my safety and open fire! Eliminate Zero and avenge Prince Clovis!"

Without hesitation, each of the closest Sutherlands turned to aim at Zero. "I respect your tenacity, Jeremiah. However..." Suddenly, and small projectile sped quickly through the area, and severed the arms of the Sutherlands who aimed at Zero and Jeremiah.

As everyone watched the object return to its source, which was atop a nearby building it stopped spinning and Kallen returned her tiara to her forehead. It was finally time for her to join in. ' _Well, still not sure what to say, so I guess I better wing it. Well, here goes nothing..._ ' Just as she was about to begin, she was illuminated by a spotlight, allowing all to see her clearly. "How dare you sentence a man to death for a crime he did not commit!" Kallen loudly declared.

" _And now it appears that Zero has an accomplice! Who is this mysterious woman who has now joined this event?_ "

It was then that Villetta recalled exactly that she had indeed seen Zero. She had been a bit out of it when she had spotted him at the restaurant, but seeing the girl from Shinjuku had jogged her memory.

"I am the pretty guardian, who fights for love and for justice!" She then struck a couple quick poses for dramatic effect. "I am Sailor Moon!" Hitting one final pose, she angled her one arm and then point at them with the other behind it. "And in the name of of the moon, I'll punish you!" After a couple moment of silence. Kallen's face began to turn red. ' _Why did I do all that! That was so embarrassing!_ ' She yelled at herself in her head.

Down on the road, while most weren't sure what to make of the display, the military was already growing wary. "From the Shinjuku incident..?" Jeremiah let out in surprise.

' _Thats the girl from Shinjuku!_ ' Suzaku thought, still unable to speak due to the shock collar.

"Lord Jeremiah!" Viletta spoke up. "Zero and Sailor Moon appear to be associated! The restaurant incident from the other day I told you about! They were there!"

 _That_ caught Flau's attention. She was already getting irritated by the appearance of these two who were interfering with her mission from Master Jadeite. But these two were also the ones who had ruined another mission, and had been in Shinjuku incident? They were the ones messing with Jadeite's plans, and she would have to take care of them, or else they would ruin her mission as well.

As Kallen leaped down to the road, trying her best to forget about her little display from earlier, she looked at the disabled Sutherlands. "Now, let Suzaku Kururugi go!" she demanded. However, before she could continue, the gathered crowd suddenly began to collapse.

" _Now whats going on? All of the people who have gathered here are beginning to collapse? Is this Zero's doing? Sailor Moon's? Or-huh?_ " The commentator stopped as he watched a new figure walk out into the street.

"Thats the new girl at the station? Whats she doing?" Diethard wondered allowed as he turned to put the camera on her, getting the feeling that something else was going to come of this.

"So, you are the ones getting in our way." Flau accused, much to Kallen's confusion. However, Lelouch had already caught on and came to a conclusion. Removing his sword from where he threatened Jeremiah, he leaped away to Suzaku. "Looks like we're going to have to move up our schedule." he said, grabbing Suzaku. "Sailor Moon, be careful!"

"Hey wait!" the guards protested, but he knocked them out.

As Kallen and other split their focus between Zero's actions and the woman approaching them, Flau's form began to shift as she dropped her disguise and revealed her true form. She was taller, her skin was a pale purple hue, and her brown hair stood up. She also had a malevolent look on her face, and held up her clawed hands. "Another monster? Can't I do anything without running into these things?" Kallen complained as she got ready to fight. However, rather than charge at her, she instead laughed as she opened her mouth, and a stream of something shot out. Kallen avoided it, and it struck a Sutherland and damaged its lower half, causing the cockpit to eject. "Thats a new trick..."

"You've interfered with our human energy gathering for the last time!" Flau said before firing another stream at her.

As the military scrambled to confont the monster, Lelouch ran with Suzaku and tossed him over the side of the road, right into the net that had been set up there for him and into the car to take him to safety. Making sure it left without pursuit, he turned his attention back to the action.

Jeremiah had no idea what was going on in the slightest. However, this monster was the likely cause for what was happening to the crowd. And he would not tolerate harm to happen to Britannian citizens under his watch. "All units, this monster has threatened Britannian citizens! We will deal with her first!" he said as he sat in and closed the cockpit of his Sutherland. His thankfully had not been disabled due his inability to aim at Zero. So, he aimed his assault rifle and and fired at her, and Flau dodged the attack.

"You're in the way!" she said, and turned to look at Jeremiah's machine, and eliminate the annoyance, but was struck by a Slash Harken from Villetta's machine.

"I assume that you're affiliated with the one from the restaurant, right? That was payback for it ruining my day off." she said in annoyance.

"All Hail Britannia!" a pilot, Kewell Soresi said, as he and several other Sutherlands attack in unison. Flau evaded the attacks from each and tried to retaliate only to be kicked down by Zero.

"Well now, this development is unexpected. However, your support in dealing with a mutual enemy is not unappreciated." Zero said.

"Save it. We're simply acting to protect the lives of Britannian citizens." Jeremiah said. "If you and the girl get caught in the crossfire, we won't hesitate for a second."

"Fair enough."

Meanwhile on the sidelines, Diethard was in what could only be described as pure ecstasy as he watched the event, recording everything for the viewers at home to see. But more than that, he did all this for himself. He _had_ to get as much of this on camera as possible. These two, Zero and Sailor Moon, had brought with them something he never thought possible, things that were people had assumed were mere fiction. Tonight had started as a simple run-of-the-mill kangaroo court event, something that was not too uncommon in Britannia. But now, this battle with superhumans and a supernatural creature, this was far more interesting.

Kallen watched the new monster woman preoccupied with the Knightmares and Zero. "Okay, time that I ended this." she said as she took her tiara from her head. "Alright, take this! Moon Tiara! Boomerang!" she said throwing it, and Flau saw the attack coming and leaped out of the way.

"You expected to hit me with that?" she scoffed.

"I did say "Boomerang" right" Kallen retorted and motioned with her hands, drawing the magical weapon back to her, and cleaving right through Flau, who let out a final scream as she dissolved to dust.

"Now that thats taken care of," Zero said as he walked over to Sailor Moon, "I believe its time we take our leave."

"Not so fast." Jeremiah said. "Now, its time for you to answer for your crimes." Jeremiah's Sutherland aimed its assault rifle at them while the others started to surrounded them.

"Our business is done here, Jeremiah. And for your help, we will cause you no further trouble this night."

"As if we'd just let you walk away! You need to answer for your crime!" Kewell said. However, before anything more could happen, the two leaped off of the side of the road, and when the soldiers all looked down, the two were nowhere to be seen.

* * *

"Well, that was quite the show you put on." C.C. said as she watched the news report end.

"I'm just glad she is alright." Luna said. The two of them currently stood in a dark room with a separate screen that lit up. "Codename 0091, this is Luna. Pass phrase: The rabbit on the moon is pounding rice cakes.""

From the screen, a distorted voice replied. " _The moon's rice cakes are sticky._ "

"And the puff up when you toast them as well."

" _Pass phrase accepted. Have you found the princess yet?_ "

"Not yet. And no leads yet either."

" _I see. Meanwhile, we've found one of the other Guardian's thanks to C.C.'s information._ "

"Thats good to hear. Will you be joining us soon?"

" _No, unfortunately not. After all, she is not in Japan, so it will take some time._ "

"I see. Well, fortunately, Sailor Moon is showing to be capable and reliable on her own."

" _For now, continue your investigation. Keep in touch if you find out anything new._ " And with that, the communication ended.

"I told you you'd find her there." C.C. said.

"Yes, it seems so." Luna said. "What about the other one you know?"

"That will take some time. I don't know where she'd be found these days. I met her a very, very long time ago, after all."

* * *

"Suzaku Kururugi, I'd like for you to me." Zero said as he extended his hand out.

"I do appreciate your help, Zero." Suzaku said. "But I have to refuse."

That caught Zero off guard. "And why is that? The Britannia you serve is a worthless dominion."

"Maybe thats true. But this nation, it can be changed for the better! And from within."

From outside, Kallen listened in to the conversation. "Well, so much for that part." she complained, referring to the last part of Zero's plan. He had hoped that Suzaku would join them, but based on what she was hearing, that part just wasn't to be. Walking away, she saw C.C. waiting for her.

"Busy night?" she asked.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Still, at least the mission was successful." Kallen replied. "So, where have you been?"

"Busy with my own work."

"Not gonna share that, are you?"

"Of course not."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with the fourth chapter done. You know, I'm gonna be honest; I surprised myself in that I didn't expect this story to be so much fun to write. Its just a blast to plan out and write, mixing in the iconic stuff and putting new spins on them. For example, as a bit of trivia, Flau is the monster from episode 3 of the original Sailor Moon series.
> 
> As you guys might notice, a lot of stuff is being set up and such this chapter. Hopefully its stuff to look forward to.


	5. Act V: Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of the Code Geass or Sailor Moon franchises.

"Hm... Zero. And Sailor Moon." Lloyd said as he reviewed the footage from the incident last night, as well as alongside the battle data from the Lancelot.

"Ever since last night, we've had several incidents pop up." His assistant, a woman named Cecile Croomy said, reading the daily news reports. "All of them motivated by the appearance of Zero and Sailor Moon."

"Those incidents are minor. None of them appear to have affiliation with the JLF, so they're likely just smaller cells. The military will deal with them rather quickly, especially once the new Viceroy arrives."

"Yes, I had heard that Princess Cornelia requested the transfer to the post."

"The real problem for them is these two new characters." Lloyd paused the video when Zero and Sailor Moon were on screen. Indeed, the appearance of these two had caused quite a stir throughout the Area. While, as Cecile had stated, many incidents had popped up over night, the real concern was on them. Jeremiah had felt personally humiliated by the two, both for exposing his fake trial, and for getting away. Though, Lloyd wouldn't deny that he was very grateful for the former. Thanks to them, all charges on Suzaku were being dismissed, meaning he would soon be free as a bird, and back under his supervision.

"And what about their... abilities." She had seen the footage both from last night and from Shinjuku and she could still hardly believe what she had seen. The girl had taken a direct hit from the Lancelot and shook it off without any serious damage. No normal human should be able to get up after something like that. And that was only the tip of the iceberg when examining these two. If superhuman physical abilities were the only concern, they could be dealt with easily enough. But what the two of them were currently displaying was almost like... well, as a scientist, she certainly wasn't going to call them magic.

"Excuse me, Lloyd, you have a call." a staff member said as they entered the room.

"Tell them to call back later." Lloyd said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"But sir, its an urgent call from the Homeland from-"

"Oh? Well now, only one person would be calling me from there." Lloyd said as he switched to the larger monitor. "Put him through."

"Yes sir."

An in a few moments, the image of a man appeared on screen. "Good to see you, Lloyd." he greeted them.

"Prince Schneizel, to what do we owe this pleasure?"

* * *

Taking a seat in class, Kallen listened to the people around. Everyone was talking about the incident last night. She groaned inwardly, hating the fact that she was the subject of everyone's discussions, or rather, that she was seen dressed liked that by so many people. Even if she couldn't be recognized, she hated that uniform. And of course, there was also the matter of her introduction, which she still regretted. " _Just calm down Kallen, nobody knows it was you. Nobody know anything. Nobody knows anything._ " She repeated this mantra in her though to little success.

"Something the matter?" C.C. asked as she approached her.

"You could say that..." Kallen knew that C.C. was fully aware of what was bothering her. Glancing over to the girl standing before her, she could see the smirk she was making, and Kallen debated whether it'd be worth it to break character just this one and do something about that.

"Morning, Kallen. Morning, C.C." Shirley greeted the two, Rivalz and Nina with her.

"Check it out." Rivalz said putting a screen in front of them. "They're replaying the footage from last night."

As she watched the footage, Kallen's face turned bright red. Ever since last night, she had avoided any of the news talking about it. She did not want to see any of the recordings of herself or introduction. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't counted on her new friends potential interest, and there was no getting around it anymore. Worse yet for her, in her mind, what she saw was even worse than she thought. " _Oh god, I look so ridiculous!_ "

"Watching the replay of last night?" a voice said from behind them. "I see they just got past that Sailor Moon's silly intro." Lelouch said as he looked to the screen.

"Hey, i-ts not that bad!" she protested without thinking.

"Ah, my apologies. I wasn't aware that you had become quite the fan of her."

" _Ah, crap._ " "Oh, well, I mean, I guess, I just thought what she did was impressive." She knew she was being way too self-conscious about matters relating to Sailor Moon, but she just couldn't seem to help it. She could rationalize about how no one actually knew it was her all she wanted, but she knew that she'd probably take everything personally.

Of course, she had no way of knowing that Lelouch had done that on purpose, and missed him and C.C. exchange looks of amusement.

"Um, actually, to tell you the truth," Shirley piped in, seeming a little embarrassed. "I was kinda impressed too. I mean, I know those two claimed to be responsible for Prince Clovis's death, but they saved us back at the restaurant. My memory is a little fuzzy on the events, but I do remember them."

"Yeah, me too!" Rivalz said. "I mean, on the remembering part. Don't know how I feel about them, but I know they saved us!"

Kallen took in their words. She hadn't thought about it much, but it hadn't just been Nunnally that she saved that day. They all had been there too. She found a small smile form on her face at that. They all weren't perfect, but she was beginning to like these people, even if they were Britannians.

* * *

Thwarted again. Once again, his plans had been ruined. Jadeite clenched his fist in anger as he thought of all of his recent failures. The amount of energy he had gathered from these recent attempts was hardly much at all. And of course, he had yet to find any leads on the Silver Crystal. He was well on his way to becoming a laughingstock! He was just thankful that the other three were not around to rub these events in his face, especially that Zoisite...

Atop a building in Tokyo, Jadeite watched the cause of his failure play out before his eyes, the large television screen playing last nights events out for him to see, he watched the man called "Zero" and the girl called "Sailor Moon" fight Flau.

Composing himself, he looked down at the city below. He was the Commander of the Far East Division of the Dark Kingdom, and the Asian area of Earth was his territory. The Chinese Federation wasn't worth much time, but Britannia's Area 11 was far richer in human energy, and the Tokyo Settlement was perhaps the best concentrated area. And to his knowledge, he had yet to find any hint that the Silver Crystal was in China, so even more of a reason to ignore it. While the Japanese may be in questionable conditions, the Britannians were perfect sources to prey upon. While he had been working with Clovis, he had left them alone as per their arrangement, but now that he was gone, they were ideal targets. And who was to say he had to focus exclusively on just one of them? Certainly not that Britannian Prince anymore.

"I'll begin another plan to gather energy." he said to himself. "Although, I'll need to keep an eye out for those two meddlers." As he looked down at the city, he saw something that gave him an idea for his next attempt. It wasn't much, but it was best to start small for now.

* * *

"Okay, now that that matter is settled," Milly said going through a checklist. "That finishes up everything important left for today."

Kallen yawned from her place at the table. There really hadn't been much, if anything, for her to do this whole meeting. They had talked about a budget to distribute between the clubs, and organize a schedule of upcoming events. Overall, it had been beyond dull. Of course, not that that was a bad thing. She was willing to bet that it was much better than other possible alternatives. She looked over to Nina, who didn't even seem to be paying attention as she worked away on her computer. C.C. also seemed to be using a computer too, though she had no idea for what. She didn't seem to be doing any work.

"All thats left are a few minor things."

"Like what?" Rivalz asked.

"Well, the council's personal food stock is running low on some supplies I like to keep in case anything sudden comes up. Never know when we need to throw a party." she then looked over to the only other male present. "Lelouch, you know you're the only one I can trust with this." she said as she held out a list, and handed him the paper.

"Thats no problem. Nunnally and I were planning to go shopping after the meeting anyway." he said as he read through, checking everything to make note of where he'd need to go for each item.

"Perfect." After that, she gave a few forms to Shirley and Rivalz to bring to clubs, and with that the meeting was adjourned.

As everyone but her and C.C. left, Kallen then heard a tapping on the window behind her, and turned to see Luna. "Where have you been?" Kallen asked letting the cat inside.

"Trying to find any leads on anything." the cat replied as she came inside.

"Let me guess, no luck whatsoever, right?"

"Unfortunately..."

"What about you?" Kallen said, turning over to look at C.C. "Anything you'd like to share?"

"Not particularly."

Kallen sighed at that. "I just can't wrap my head around you. What is your deal, anyway? Who and what are you, anyway?"

The green haired girl simply shrugged at that, not looking away from the computer. "I'm C.C."

Kallen groaned. "Don't act cute. You know what I mean!"

"What if I don't actually know what you mean?" she said, glancing at her a little, though not taking her full attention away from the screen.

Kallen resisted the urge to jump across the table and strangle the girl out of frustration, and the smirk on her face made that extremely difficult. But, self control managed to stay with her for now. "What is it you are up to? Luna says you're working with her, but you don't share any information with her. Or me for that matter!"

"Oh, is that what this is all about?" She then returned her full attention to the monitor.

Kallen sighed, taking the brooch from the front of her uniform. Taking a seat, she looked over it as she managed to calm down and compose herself. "I just want answers. I can't help but keep thinking "Why me?" in all of this." She thought back to Shinjuku, the restaurant, and last night. "Look, I'd be lying if I said I don't like at least some things about the power, but I'm still adjusting to all this. Monsters and magic, and all of this. You guys said I was chosen, but why? And it doesn't help matters that I'm in the dark about what is going on, while Luna doesn't have the answers I want while you hide things."

"Kallen..." Luna let out.

Sighing once again, she returned her brooch to her uniform. "I'm heading home. I'll see you when you come back, Luna."

As she stepped out of the student council room, she stood outside of it, glancing down at the brooch once more. She tried not to think about it most of the time, but her confusion on just what was going on with her life now really was starting to get to her. Not so much the power itself, but the other parts. She thought to how Luna had told her they had to find some princess, but nothing beyond that. And who was this enemy of theirs? Why couldn't she just get some damn answers!?

"Whats bothering you now?" a voice from down the hall asked, and she turned to see Lelouch and Nunnally.

"Don't worry about it. Its not something I can talk about."

"Oh, Kallen, were you on your way home now?" Nunnally asked.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Nothing else for me to do today."

"If thats the case, would you like to join us on our shopping trip?" Lelouch looked down to his sister at that. He weighed his options on whether or not to object to his sister's idea, ultimately deciding to leave it up to Kallen. He really didn't want to tell Nunnally, after all. Truthfully, he was hoping to not get much closer to Kallen. While he was intent on continuing to work with her, he didn't want her to draw any connections between him and Zero. But unfortunately for him, his beloved sister was making that increasingly more difficult.

For her part, Kallen was going to say no. She wanted to head straight home. However, looking at her smiling, cheerful face, she couldn't bring herself to refuse her offer. ' _Man, I can't believe its so hard to say no to this girl..._ ' "I guess I could." she said. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do, she figured.

For her part though, Nunnally didn't bother concealing her joy at that. "Ah! I'm so glad!"

* * *

"So, this is Area 11. This is Japan." a girl with long pink hair mused as she walked down the streets of Tokyo, taking in the sights.

"Yeah," her companion, a young man wearing sunglasses, replied. As he followed the girl, he looked back occasionally. "You lied back there. You aren't being followed, are you?"

The girl in question giggled at that. "Well, not entirely. The people who would be following me aren't bad people. They're just doing they're job. But I wanted to see around for myself without them, so I kinda..."

"Jumped out of the window?"

"Well, climbing out was the original plan. I had hoped that the rope of bed sheets I used would have been a little longer." she said sheepishly. "I was lucky you were there to catch me." She let out a giggle as she recalled the circumstances of their meeting. "Anyway, we haven't introduced ourselves, have we? My name is... Euphie." she said, hesitating only very briefly for a moment, though her companion thought nothing of it.

"Euphie, huh? Well, my name is-"

"Oh, you don't need to tell me that. I already know." Euphie said cutting him off as he was about to remove his sunglasses. "You're a celebrity right now, after all. Suzaku Kururugi, right?"

"So, you already knew who I was? Is that why you asked me for help back there?" he said glancing back. "Speaking of which, why did you lie back there?" However, as Suzaku looked back to Euphie, she wasn't there. Looking around, he saw that she had walked over and was crouched down by a cat.

"Meow meow." she she said as she stroked the cat. "I think his paw is hurt." Euphie said as she picked it up. As Suzaku moved his hand in to pet the cat as well, the cat in question had other plans, and bit into his finger. "Oh my." Euphie let out as Suzaku winced in pain.

* * *

"This is... quite an interesting project that Prince Schneizel has assigned to our unit." Cecile said as she read through a series of documents. Currently, she and Lloyd were riding in a military transport truck, their own used to transport the Lancelot, en route to meet up with Suzaku. They had already been informed that Suzaku had been released, the charges having been dropped due to lack of evidence for obvious reasons.

"Yes, it is. Its been around for a while, and I've even met with its lead researcher a few times, and offered input into the project, but it hasn't received much funding, if any at all." Lloyd said. "Due to how difficult it seems to be for people to use, it was deemed to be unnecessary due to the prevalence of Knightmares."

"Then why now is it suddenly being given attention?"

"You have to ask? Because of last night, obviously. You heard Prince Schneizel, because of those two odd characters, he wants to explore another option to deal with them. Especially since thus far, the only Knightmare that stands a chance against them has been the Lancelot."

"Do you think it will work?"

"I think its worth a try. Besides, I do have to admit, it is a fascinating project. And since its under our care now, we'll be giving it all the care and attention it deserves."

* * *

"There we go." Euphie said, having finished tying a bandage around the cat's injured paw. "I'm sorry about before."

"You don't have to worry. Its not your fault." Suzaku said as he moved his hand closer to the cat to try and pet it again, only for it to hiss at him in defiance. "Cat's just don't like me much." Euphie giggled at that.

Before much else could happen, the cat in question took off. "Oh, the kitty ran away..." Euphie said, a hint of sadness or at least disappointment in her tone. After watching the cat go its own way, she returned her attention to Suzaku. "Suzaku, could I ask a favor? I don't think you'd find this surprising, but I'm not exactly familiar with this city. Like I said, this is my first day in Area 11. I was hoping that you could accompany me for a while, and show me around."

"Are you sure? I don't know if I'd be the best choice as a guide."

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun!" she said with a smile as she took his arm and pulled him along with her, not giving him much choice in the matter.

* * *

"I'm so glad you decided to come with us, Kallen." Nunnally said as the group made their way out of the grocery store. Kallen held a couple bags in her hands, while Nunnally had one in her lap as Lelouch pushed her chair.

"It was no trouble at all. I don't mind helping out." she replied. Sure, it had been a bit annoying when Lelouch had to correct her on a few items off of Milly's list due to not being the exact, specific brand and product, but Nunnally had at least been nice enough. Besides, other than the siblings' personal groceries, most of what they bought would be delivered on their own.

"Well, I suppose having an extra set of hands does make things easier." Lelouch added in.

"Oh, its not so much for the help. I just enjoy spending time with Kallen."

"Hey now, what do you mean by that? You don't want to spend time with just me?" Lelouch said it mock offense. "I'm hurt, Nunnally."

Nunnally giggled at her brother's comment. "Oh, you don't have to worry, big brother. Theres no one else I enjoy spending time with more than you." she said with a wide smile. Watching from the side, Kallen had to admit, she was a little jealous of the brother and sister before her. While the interaction between the two was different, their closeness reminded her of her own dear brother, Naoto. She really did miss him...

However, before any conversation could continue, Lelouch suddenly stopped walking forward. As Kallen turned to ask him what was wrong, she saw that he wore an expression of... well, mixed surprise and worry, and was looking straight. However, he seemed to notice that she was watching, him, and returned to a more normal expression. She looked out to the crowd where he had been looking, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It was pretty crowded though ' _Was it someone in the crowd? Did he see someone he recognized?_ ' "Hey, wh-"

"Hey Nunnally, since we're out, how about a snack? Want to get some ice cream?" he said cutting her off, now looking over in another direction, towards an ice cream cart that was gathering a crowd.

"That sounds great! I'd love some." she said, and Lelouch started moving away from the direction they had been going.

' _What has got him so spooked now?_ ' Kallen thought as she followed, looking back towards the area, trying to see if anything would give her a clue, but nothing stood out. None of the people seemed out of the ordinary. Someone he recognized maybe? That only raised further questions though.

One thing she did not notice, or at least pay any special attention to, was a certain pair of a young man with brown hair wearing sunglasses and the pink haired girl with him.

"Suzaku, can I ask you something?" Euphie asked.

"Sure. You can ask me anything."

"What... do you think of Zero? And Sailor Moon?" At the question, Suzaku's smile started to fade, and his expression grew more serious.

"I have mixed feelings about them."he told her. "I am grateful that they saved me. And their actions helped protect the people from that... thing. However, I don't think I agree with what they seem to be doing." He recalled his conversation with Zero. "If fighting monsters is all they'll do, thats fine, but I'm worried what might come from here on out. Zero said he killed Prince Clovis, so I don't think that last night will be the last time that those two will confront Britannia."

"I see..." Euphie said, and Suzaku noted that she seemed to be deep in thought on the matter. He was about to ask what was on her mind, why she was curious, but she seemed to anticipate his question, and changed the subject. "Hey, whats going on over there? A lot of people seem to be gathering."

Feeling it was best not to pry, he put aside his questions and looked in the direction she was pointing towards. As she had said, a crowd of people appeared to be gathering, though since it was at a higher elevation, they would need to go up the steps to get a better look at what was going on. "You want to take a look?" he asked, already having an idea of what her response would be.

"Sounds good to me." she said with a giggle.

Not far from them, Kallen and the two siblings were within that crowd trying to make their way to the stand. From what they had gathered by talking to people, it was a new stand that had just opened up, and was giving away free samples, and much of the crowd was those who were trying to buy some after finishing their sample. Kallen noted that they all seemed to be craving more, almost in an unsettling way.

Looking over to Lelouch, she once again caught him shifting his attention forward. This was the third time she had seen him looking around, only to stop when he noticed she turned her attention his way. "Um-"

"So, what flavor are you planning to get, Nunnally?

' _That_ had _to be on purpose!_ ' It looked like no matter what, Lelouch wasn't going to let her talk. She then looked to the younger girl with them. And it was then that she realized what should have been obvious. Whatever is bothering him, he didn't want to worry his sister. ' _I'll drop it for now..._ '

"I haven't decided yet. What about you?"

"Well, I suppose I'll get whatever you do. So pick out the best for both of us." he said with a smile. Beneath the surface though, he was anything but happy. He could not believe his bad luck. Why was Euphie here!? Even though this was the first time in seven years he had seen her, he had recognized her, his half-sister Euphemia li Britannia, in an instant. Whatever the reason or purpose for her being here, he couldn't risk being seen by her. And since Nunnally was with him, avoiding her was far harder. Complicating matters, he was with Kallen, and he knew she had seen his reaction. He didn't want Nunnally to know something was wrong, and he couldn't explain anything to Kallen without alerting her as well. But in his haste to hide, he learned that he might just have made things worse. He looked at the crowd, and then to their destination, specifically the sign.

_Dark Flavor_

He calculated the odds of what the chances were that this was connected to the restaurant. Were whoever this group was really this uncreative with their naming sense? Maybe if it had just been the name, but the way some of these people were acting set off alarms. It was subtle to most, but it was obvious they had some very unusual craving for the treats this stand offered. It could almost be described as comparable to an addict needing his next fix, though more reserved. Regardless, he knew things were not normal here. ' _Offer free samples, get people hooked, and do whatever it is they do. Drain energy, if I recall._ ' He wasn't 100% certain that his hunch was correct, but he was sure enough that he needed to at least proceed with the assumption that his suspicions could be correct.

But now he was in even more of a pickle. After all, he couldn't just say "Kallen, these are the bad guys from before!" since 'Lelouch' wasn't supposed to know she was Sailor Moon, as well as Lelouch was supposed to be uninvolved, and wouldn't know further details about these things. He was still not planning on revealing he was Zero. More over, even if he did come up with a good way to tell Kallen what was going on without giving himself away, once again, it came down to not wanting to worry Nunnally. And finally, she was already suspicious enough of him with his earlier reaction, so saying "I changed my mind!" would just make things worse. And with Nunnally here, it would be difficult to do anything. He and Kallen were the only ones with her, so both of them couldn't fight if it came down to it.

Taking a quick glance around, he concocted a plan. He'd have to use his Geass in a way that wouldn't catch Kallen's attention, but it was the only thing he could do. And he needed to act quick. "You two get on line. I just need to run to the bathroom real quick."

"Uh, okay." Kallen replied, a tad confused.

"Hurry back!" Nunnally added in with her usual cheerfulness.

"I will!" As he walked towards his destination, he took out a notepad and began scribbling something onto it before turning the page and doing the same. Time was of the essence and he couldn't afford to be seen by the one he was trying to avoid. ' _The ones who I assume already ate the ice cream seem a bit impatient. If I'm right, I might be able to use that to cause a scene_ ' he thought to himself. As he neared the bathroom, he saw a group of around 4 men not far from the restrooms. They looked like exactly the type of people he would need. "Excuse me, could I have a word with you gentlemen?"

"What do you want, kid?" one man said, already trying to project an aura of intimidation. Yes, these men would work nicely.

"Take these papers and follow the instructions written on them exactly." He said as he activated his Geass and handed each one a paper.

"You got it." he said as each man took one and intently studied their own.

Back with Kallen and Nunnally, Kallen was beginning to grow more than a bit uncomfortable in the line. The people who had already had the ice cream were definitely acting weirdly. Without fail, every single person who got out of line after trying their sample returned to it immediately. She overheard some people passing by to do this even mention it was their 3rd or 4th time. She was starting to have second thoughts on the matter. ' _I don't think I care_ how _good this stuff is, I don't think I want any of whatever is going on here. Should I bring this up to Nunnally, or...?_ '

"Is everything okay, Kallen?" Nunnally spoke up.

"Why do you ask?"

"Something seems very wrong with the people here..."

' _She can tell too, huh? Well, I'm sure she hears everyone._ '

It was at that moment, Lelouch returned. As he did, he took not of far in the back of the line, Euphie waited. Lucky for him, she was preoccupied talking with someone, so he was able to escape her notice. And if everything went as he planned, he should be able to get out of here with Nunnally without her ever realizing they were here. "Sorry about taking so long. Made a quick phone call after I was done."

"Its fine, Lelouch." Nunnally replied. "Lelouch, these people are acting very strange. I don't think we should get any ice cream here..."

That made things easier for Lelouch. Even without his pointing out anything, it seemed like Nunnally and Kallen had made their own observations on the crowd. ' _Perhaps I should have waited. Then again, no guarantee Euphie wouldn't still see us._ ' "You noticed it too, huh? I thought something seemed off myself."

"We should probably head home. We don't really need to get any ice cream." Kallen chimed in.

"I guess thats probably for the best."

It was at that moment, they heard a commotion going on in front of the stand. "Hey, you can't just cut in line! I was next!"

"Big deal. If this ice cream is so great, we wanna try some for myself right now.

"Wait your own turn in line!"

"Screw waiting in line!"

' _Looks like my diversion is right on cue._ ' Lelouch noted as he watched on as the four men he used Geass on stood at the front of the line.

"Hey, if they're gonna cut in line, why should I have to wait if I want more!?" one man in line yelled out.

"If hes not gonna wait, neither am I!" a woman shouted.

It was at that moment, one of the men snatched the ice cream out of the hands of one nearby customer. "Whats so great about this stuff anyway?"

"Give it back, thats mine!" the man demanded as he reached for his frozen treat, only to be pushed back by another customer. And doing so, that customer dropped her own.

"How dare you!"

As all of this went down, many of them people who hadn't yet fallen under the spell of the ice cream were backing away, Lelouch, Kallen and Nunnally among them. Seeing this, the woman working the counter of the stand visibly grew angry. ' _These idiot human are ruining Master Jadeite's plan!_ ' She had been entrusted with with this task and she couldn't afford to fail. "Please everyone, theres more than enough ice cream for everyone. Please calm down!"

But this was to no avail, as the commotion continued. It got so bad that people's ice cream got knocked out of their hands and flew through the air. One such cup flew through the air, landing right on the head of a certain someone. "Uaaagh!" Kallen yelled out as it did and her hair and face was covered by the treat, which appeared to be chocolate.

"Kallen are you okay?" Nunnally asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." she groaned. "You two head back, I'm gonna try washing some of this out before going home myself."

* * *

Entering the women's restroom, Kallen noticed another girl with pink hair in the there by the sink, her dress covered in a mix of vanilla and strawberry ice cream. "Oh, hello." she greeted. "I see I wasn't the only one unlucky in that commotion earlier."

"Yeah, looks like it..." Kallen replied. "Though I think I got the shorter end of the stick."

"I can't say that you're wrong." she said with a giggle. She reached into a bag, and took out a bottle of soap. "Here, you can have this. I bought it earlier because it smelled so nice, but I think you need it now more than me."

"Uh, thanks." Taking it and the sink next to her, Kallen stuck her head in the sink to rinse her head with gift. Next to her, the other girl scrubbed her dress. A bit later the two finished roughly around the same time and she handed Kallen a towel. Kallen once again thanked the girl for her kind offer. ' _She seems like a nice girl_ '

"Hm... Have we met somewhere before? Something about you seems rather familiar..." the girl said as she looked over Kallen.

"Not that I know of." Looking back to her, no hint of any recollection or familiarity came to her mind. As far as Kallen could tell, she had never seen this girl in her life.

The new girl continued to stare at Kallen's face a bit longer, seemingly trying recall something. Perhaps place why she seemed familiar, Kallen figured. After a few moments, she seemed to give up. "You're right. Of course not. It would be rather unlikely. Today is my first day here in Area 11, after all."

"Oh. Did you just move here, or are you on vacation?" Kallen said, feigning interest to be polite.

"Both, actually." the girl replied. "Well, not much longer on one, at least. Today is the last day of my holiday. I'm trying to see as much of this country as I can before it ends."

"But if you're moving here, wouldn't you have plenty of time for that?"

"Well, I wish that were true, but unfortunately for me, I won't have as much freedom as I'd like after today. I actually had to sneak away to get this chance."

' _Sounds like she is some noble's kid._ ' Kallen though to herself.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Well, I guess so." Kallen replied, not thinking much of it.

"What do you think of Sailor Moon?"

"Wha-what!?" she sputtered out in surprise. She knew she had to get her reactions to Sailor Moon under control, but she was majorly caught off guard by a complete stranger asking her about it. "W-why are you asking me?"

"Is she a touchy subject in Area 11?" The girl asked.

"Um, no, its just, just a bit out of the blue, is all. I wasn't expecting such a question." Kallen said, and the girl was clearly confused by her sudden shift in behavior. ' _Crap, even this girl can tell I'm being awkward about it!_ ' Calming herself down a bit before replying, she then said "Well, I don't really know what to think yet. I guess I'd like to know more about her."

"I see..." the girl said. Kallen noted that briefly, her demeanor changed. She appeared to be in deep though. "Yes, I suppose I can agree with that. I want to know more about her as well."

"By the way, can I ask what school you go to?"

"My school?" It was then that she was reminded that she was still in her school uniform, which had to be a big tip off. "Ashford Academy."

"Ashford Academy, huh? I suppose thats as good a choice as any for him..." she trailed off, the last bit more for herself than for Kallen to hear. "And what is your name?"

"Kallen. Kallen Stadtfeld."

"Thank you for talking with me, Kallen. I hope we run into each other again, sometime." she said with a smile. "My name is Euphie. If I get the chance, I hope we can get to know each other better."

* * *

Back at the stall, the woman at the stand continued to try and calm down the crowd but to no avail. No one seemed to be listening to her. "You stupid humans, listen to me!" she said in frustration.

"I see my suspicions were correct." a voice said from the back of the stall. The stands shutters then began to close. When they did, they could hear people banging on it to open up.

"Who are you!? What are you doing here!?"

"I came in through the back while the commotion went on." Lelouch said as he remained hidden from view in shadows and reached into his uniform, pulling out a mask. With Sayoko taking Nunnally back home, that freed him up to deal with this. Kallen's "fate" had been unplanned, but if he acted quickly, he should be able to get her attention with this fight in case he needed the backup. "I'll be honest, I don't really understand your plans, but either way, I should put a stop to it now."

Lelouch placed the mask on his face. As it folded out into the helmet-like form, an almost inky blackness, something that could only be described as shadows, came out from underneath, and wrapped around his body, first his arms which he spread out as they wrapped around, then to his chest, all the way down his legs. The shadows then began grow darker, then their color shifted as they gained mass, and transform and became a suit. Following that as the suit finished forming, more shadows flowed out from beneath the mask, and he crossed his arms as they took the form of a cape before transforming and solidified into it. He swept his arms out and the cape billowed in the wind as his transformation into the masked man, Zero, had been completed.

It was hardly the first time he had become Zero, and yet he was still amazed by the process. Magic wasn't something he had ever put much stock, if any at all, into. And yet now, he had what could only be described as such. With the mask he now wore, he could instantly change into his costume. It was his almost as if it had been his ideal image of what a "hero" would look like given physical form, the mask having appeared in his hand the moment C.C. had awakened these powers. And he was still impressed by the abilities this form gave him. He had never been gifted when it came to physical fitness, even as a child. But now, he possessed power beyond that of any man.

"You're Zero!"

"Yes, I am Zero!" he affirmed he held out his arm. "And I am here to put a stop to your wicked deeds!"

"Well, just try! Master Jadeite will reward me if I eliminate a thorn like you!" Her body began transform as scales covered her body. Her clothes tore to shreds and she grew a tail. She looked like an oversized lizard with brown hair, though still an unmistakably female figure. "Die, Zero!" She said as she charged at him. Though he manged to evade, she went right through the wall and outside. As she did, people screamed in terror instantly at the sight of her. The creature paid them no mind though as it turned around.

Stepping out of the shadows for all to see, Lelouch easily slipped into his persona as he played up for the crowd still present. "Hear me, monster! I, Zero, have come to punish you for taking advantage of this unsuspecting crowd!" he declared as he dramatically swept his arm to the side. "Those who prey upon the weak and unsuspecting can never escape my punishment!" With that, he held out his outstretched hand with his palm out

"Silence!" the monster said as she charged forward, though before she could grab him, a there was a bright flash from Zero's palm. Though uninjured, she cried out as a result, temporarily without sight. Distracted, Zero kicked her in her stomach and she stumbled back. Leaping back, Zero readied for the next exchange. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you!" she cursed as she rubbed her eyes.

"Hold it right there!"

"Ah, right on time." Zero mused. Sailor Moon stood a distance away, ready to join the fight. "Always reliable, Sailor Moon! I'll let you do the honors of eliminating this villain." ' _Unlike you Kallen, I don't have any of those special attacks to finish this as quickly._ ' he added to himself as he turned around.

"Uh, sure." she reached to her forehead, and removed her tiara for her finishing move. "Moon Tiara! Boomerang!" As the monster regained its sight, the last thing she saw before her death was the tiara flying right at her and no time left to dodge, and she screamed out before turning to dust.

"Well done Sailor Moon." Zero said. "Though you seem to have forgotten your entrance."

"Uh, yeah, I thought I'd skip that embarrassing thing this time..." she said as she nervously rubbed the back of her head.

Some distance away, Euphie and Suzaku stood together having watched the whole thing, and watched as the two fled the scene in separate directions. "So thats Zero..." Euphie said aloud and added to herself. ' _Zero, the man who killed my brother Clovis._ '

"Zero, and Sailor Moon." Suzaku said. This was certainly a good thing that had happened here. As he said to Euphie earlier, any of their monster fighting, he had no issue with something like this. "I would prefer not to have to fight you both when you do stuff like this."

"Sadly, thats unlikely." Lloyd said as he came up next to him suddenly.

"Lloyd!? When did you get here?" Suzaku said, surprised by the man's sudden appearance.

"Oh, we've been following you around for a while now." he replied with his usual cheerfulness. "By the way, good job escorting Princess Euphemia around today."

"Huh? Princess...?" he turned to look at Euphie who gave him a sheepish smile. "Wait, princess!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did a few things I'd been wanting to do. I wanted to do a transformation sequence for Lelouch here, partly to establish that the Zero mask is his transformation device. The Youma this chapter was more of an afterthought, since I mostly just wanted to set up some other things with this chapter.


	6. Act VI: Reunions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of the Code Geass or Sailor Moon franchises.

"Zero and Sailor Moon showed up earlier." Villetta said. Currently, she was seated at the counter of a bar, a favorite of her and her fellow soldier, her superior officer Jeremiah Gottwald.

"So I've heard. Another monster siting with them." Jeremiah said as he took a sip of his glass. He grit his teeth at the thought of those two, just remembering his humiliation. His show trial exposed, and then letting Prince Clovis's murderer escape. He pondered, wondering how it could possibly have gone worse for him. He couldn't even conceal his frustration from his companion. His shame was so great, he couldn't even bring himself to be there to welcome Princess Cornelia.

"I wanted to talk with you about some things, Lord Jeremiah." Villetta hesitated as she gathered her thoughts, and waited for him to compose himself. "About Shinjuku and everything going on now."

"What about it?"

"I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but I have a gap in my memory during Shinjuku."

"There was a lot of reports of that during the whole incident, people whose Sutherlands were stolen. And from Prince Clovis's staff like Bartley." He had of course read the reports. So then Villetta was one of them? He had disregarded such wild stories in the beginning, seeing them as nothing more than excuses for these people to cover for their own incompetence. Bartley and the others being unable to recall why they would all leave Prince Clovis alone seemed so preposterous to him. But he knew Villetta well, and he trusted her. She was and had always been a loyal confidant, and loyalty was always a quality he had valued. "You didn't mention this before."

"Yes. Truth be told, I was...embarrassed." Yes, she feared facing the same scrutiny as the other soldiers and Prince Clovis's staff. "But I decided to put that shame aside and confide in you."

"Go on."

"These...supernatural occurrences lately are making me reevaluate my prior assessments" Villetta thought to everything she had seen and heard these last few days. The gaps in her memory, these monsters, and two individuals with abilities that shouldn't be possible. "And it all began at Shinjuku."

"So what are you trying to say?"

"I can't help but feel like everything is connected." What was the cause of all these strange occurrences? What was the purpose of the Shinjuku operation? Why did everything begin at that time? Who was the boy she could very faintly recall? "I want to investigate all of this, and get to the bottom of everything."

* * *

It had been some time since Kallen's last time meeting with Ohgi and the others, at least as herself. It had all been so crazy lately, one incident after another. From Shinjuku to today, she had run into four monsters so far. In fact, she was starting to wonder if she could go a day without some new monster appearing. Then she had been busier with school lately thanks to being forced onto the Student Council, which she supposed still wasn't the worst situation. But regardless of that, even if Ohgi tried to persuade her otherwise, she still saw herself first and foremost as a resistance fighter, ad being a student an Magical Girl certainly wasn't going to change that.

"Hey everyone!" Kallen greeted as she entered into the building they had all used as a hideout. "Anyone here?"

"Kallen! Nice to see you!" Inoue greeted her. "You haven't bee around much lately. Busy with school?"

"Uh, kinda. I got roped into joined the Student Council."

"Thats good. Better for you to have fun at school than risk your life out here." Ohgi said as he and Tamaki entered the room. "I'm glad you're starting find friends your own age." Ohgi had always been like her second big brother, being Naoto's best friend for as far back as she could remember. Even before her brother died, he was always looking out for her. Though after he had, he had always done his best to try and steer her away from being part of their group. She appreciated the sentiment, even if she was having none of his attempts to talk her out of this.

"So what have you been up to lately?"

"Get this, you're never gonna believe it!" Tamaki said, getting animated . "We've been working with _Zero_!"

Kallen looked at him quizzically, wondering why he was telling her this like she didn't know. It took her a moment to remember that they still didn't know she was Sailor Moon.

"Tamaki is actually not being all bluster for once" Inoue said, mistaking her expression for one of disbelief. "He showed up again the other day and asked us to help him and Sailor Moon with rescuing in Kururugi."

"After saving us all here from Clovis, its hard to believe he would show up again an ask us of all people for help." Ohgi said, scratching at the back of his head. He honestly still couldn't believe it happened. "Theres way more qualified resistance groups than us."

"Nah, I'm telling you, its gotta be because we're special or something! He can probably tell we can be way better than we are if we just get the shot!" Tamaki interjected.

It was easy for her to tell, they were all in much higher spirits today than they had been in a long time. She hadn't really thought what it might have done for them, Zero showing up. She couldn't really deny that they hadn't made much progress or accomplished anything of note. But she could definitely feel there was an air of excitement around her here now. She wondered what might be next for them.

"I hope I'm not intruding." a voice announced as Zero walked in through the doorway, followed by C.C. still in her school uniform.

"Zero!?" She let out in surprise. What was he doing here all of a sudden? It had been a few hours by now since the fight this afternoon, but she wasn't expecting to see him so soon. Though compared to all if his previous entrances, walking through the front door felt rather mundane.

"Z-zero!? What are you doing here?" Ohgi stammered.

Zero turned to look over at Kallen, and she flinched a bit under his gaze. "You're a new face here".

"Oh yeah, Kallen hasn't met the guy yet." Tamaki whispered. "I totally forgot she got out early when the military attacked us the other day."

"Ah, right, you haven't met her, have you?"

"No, I know who she is."

"What?" Kallen barely held her composure. So did he know? Did he know she was Sailor Moon? People weren't supposed to be able to recognize her when she went Magical Girl though! Was he going to tell Ohgi and the others? She was already panicking from all the thoughts of what would come next. She would die of embarrassment if Ohgi, or god forbid Tamaki of all people, knew it was her dressed in that outfit she still found ridiculous. But-

"She was among those being attacked by a monster the other day that I rescued."

It was then that she recalled the restaurant incident the other day. Come to think of it, she hadn't really thought about it much, but he shown up out of nowhere to save her and Nunnally. Seeing C.C. next to him, she wondered their connection. Did she call him there? "Uh, yeah. I'm surprised you remember that."

"Of course I would. You showed bravery protecting that other girl, no matter what. Its honor to get a chance to meet you properly now." Kallen almost blushed at that praise.

"Shes also probably the best pilot we have, though we don't really have any Knightmares at the moment." Ohgi said.

"Really now?" he said as he turned to her, and Kallen felt he was studying her. "You go to the same school as C.C. don't you?"

"Uh, yeah, she is actually in my class. How do you know her anyway?"

"You can say we're accomplices." he said, almost an amused tone in his reply. "We have an arrangement, so we should be able to trust her. At the very least, she certainly isn't with the Britannian military."

"Small talk aside, what brings you around here, Zero?" Ohgi interjected.

"I'm here to offer the formalization of our alliance." he said as he extended his hand out Ohgi. "I'm looking to form a group, and I need people who are willing to follow me."

"Hell yeah! I'm in-OW!" Tamaki said, only to be forcefully silenced by Inoue. Kallen had to agree with Inoue's intent. She really wanted to hear what Zero had to say without his interruptions.

"Why us though? I'm sure there are much bigger or stronger groups" Ohgi questioned. "The JLF, or even regular resistance groups like the Blood of the Samurai would probably be better picks than us. Way stronger, more people and more organized."

"Because we already have history together. Such experiences allow us to build a stronger foundation of trust. And people I can trust is what I need most."

"Hard to believe someone who can do what you can needs people like us."

"No matter how impressive what I can do is, I'm still only one man. To accomplish my goals, I need comrades I can trust."

"Accomplish your goals, huh? So really serious, aren't you? About destroying Britannia."

"Absolutely." Zero replied. His voice was calm, but there wasn't a hint of hesitation nor doubt in his tone. "The question is now, do _you_ believe we can accomplish this goal?"

Ohgi hesitated as he thought over that simple question. Did he really believe? Sure, they fought against Britannia, but he couldn't deny that a part of him had always had doubt. Doubt that anything they did mattered. That they were almost putting up the appearance of a resistance. That they fought without the expectation of ever making a real difference. These were all doubts he had especially had ever since he took over for Naoto after his death.

"I only ask that the offer be accepted if you truly believe that we can achieve this. Forgive my bluntness in saying this, but I don't need people who don't believe we can succeed. No cause can be won by people who don't put there all into it and don't think what they're doing will be accomplished." His words were harsh but fair.

For his part, Ohgi took several minutes, and the silence was heavy. But after that time, Ohgi took Zero's hand and grasped it firmly "You're right, we can't afford halfhearted efforts. And there wasn't any going back for us from the moment we took up this cause." he said, feling as if the conviction Zero was emanating was almost contagious. "You can count us in. We'll follow you."

* * *

It wasn't long after the deal was settled that Kallen made her way out with C.C. following behind. Once Zero and Ohgi had finished discussing a few details, Zero said he would depart for now, and when he next contacted them, he would have something to show them. Among those, it was agreed that Zero would be their new leader, while Ohgi would serve as his second in command. Tamaki had decided to go out drinking with Yoshida and Minami in celebration, while Inoue and Sugiyama headed to their respective homes for the night. Ohgi told her to get some rest, since it sounded like they'd be real busy soon. He hadn't even try and tell her to stay out of it, knowing he'd never be able to keep her from getting involved here.

"Why did you even come if you weren't actually going to say anything?" she asked as she glanced towards to her associate.

"Zero asked. Since I'm to be part of his little group too, he said its best to be present when its formed. I'll be around them so its best to let them familiarize themselves with me." she replied matter-of-factly.

"So what is the deal between you and Zero anyway?"

"We simply have an arrangement. Theres really not much more to it than that."

' _Somehow I doubt that._ ' Kallen let out a sigh of irritation. "You really don't say much, do you?"

"I make it a point to never say anything more than I need to." C.C. said with a smirk. "Besides, that loud one, Tamaki was his name I believe, he irritates me." Kallen tried her best to stifle her laughter at that comment, but still let a small one escape.

Giving up once again on her attempts to pry anything at all from her companion, she turned her thoughts to another. To the mysterious masked man she kept encountering, Zero himself. She couldn't help but wonder who he was, now more than ever. He had appeared before her so often recently, and now here he was making a deal with her group. But despite the mysteries surrounding him, she couldn't deny that she was intrigued by his goals.

She'd never admit that she may have lacked it before, but listening to his convictions, for the first time since her brother had died, she felt hope. Yes, the hope that they could actually accomplish something meaningful, something great. The hope that they could win. And most importantly, the hope that Japan had a future. To her right now, this feeling that she now had, this was truly the most amazing thing that Zero had done for her. The feeling she felt about moving forward, the growing hope, she liked it.

"Zero... he really could be something special." she found herself whispering aloud. Though not low enough for C.C. to not here her.

Her trademark smirk on her face, she spoke up, though more to herself than for Kallen. "Yes, I'm hoping that he turns out be."

* * *

Euphemia walked down the hall of the Tokyo Settlement's government building, the heart of Britannia's operations in Area 11. Accompanying her was a woman older than her with hair of a darker pink shade than her own and wearing a dark red uniform with a large white cape.

"I heard you went for a stroll around the settlement today." the woman, her elder sister, Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia informed her. She was the new Viceroy of this country, intent on crushing the resistances of this conquered nation, and avenging her dear brother Clovis. To that end, she would find and she would personally kill the man who confessed to his murder, the masked man Zero. And not just for Clovis, but she would clean up this country to avenge her other siblings, Lelouch and Nunnaly, that she had lost to this country as well. "Just because most people don't know your face yet, doesn't mean you should be so reckless."

"Forgive me, sister." Euphie apologized.

"When we're in public, you must address me as Viceroy." Cornelia corrected, in a firm but at the same time gentle, tone. "Because we are royalty, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard, to set an example for those around."

"I understand, sis-Viceroy."

"I personally requested for you to serve as my Sub-viceroy."

"Yes, I was surprised to hear this. I haven't even finished my schooling."

"Real world experience will also be greater than anything you learn in a classroom." Cornelia met her sister's gaze. Once she took care of her own goals here, she intended to pass on the leadership of this territory to her dear sister Euphemia. Yes, such a position would allow her to learn vital experience befitting of her status as a Princess of Britannia. And once she learned and took over for her, she could demonstrate her leadership capabilities and raise her own status among their other siblings. Cornelia knew her sister capable of great things. Her place was on the battlefield, but Euphemia could become a good leader.

"I suppose so..."

However, before any of her wishes for Euphie could be realized, she would need to clear the stage of any inconveniences. And of course, personally avenging Clovis. Turning to face the ones accompanying her, she addressed her two most trusted subordinates. "Darlton, begin preparations for operations. I want a summary of all of the military assets at our disposal within Area 11. Soldiers, weapons, everything."

"At once, your highness." the older man, with brown hair and a scar across his face replied. Andreas Darlton was perhaps her most reliable soldier and a decorated General. There wasn't a task that she couldn't trust him with.

The other man with glasses and black hair was Gilbert G.P. Guilford was her personal Knight. There was no one who served her that she trusted more than him. "Guilford, I want you to get all information on all terrorist activity and any other intel Clovis's staff has kept."

"Of course." he replied, and the two men saluted before taking their leave to fulfill their tasks.

"You're already planning to go into battle? You just arrived."

"Its best to strike while the iron is hot, and your enemy as little time to prepare as possible. Acting as quickly and as early as possible sends a strong message." she explained. "Besides, with numerous groups emboldened by Zero and the other one, making an example of one will teach them to fear me. Even if we don't find Zero there, we'll at least be rid of one nuisance."

For her part, Euphie listened to Cornelia and said nothing. She thought to her earlier sighting of Zero today. ' _What kind of man is Zero? He killed Clovis, but saves citizens from monsters. What does he plan to do?_ ' Zero and Sailor Moon, she wanted to know more about them. She wanted to know their motivations, what they planned to do, and why.

* * *

"Jadeite, you appear to be failing me." Queen Beryl addressed her subordinate, not taking her eyes off of her crystal ball. "You're not gathering as much energy anymore, and you have yet to find the Silver Crystal."

"Forgive me, Queen Beryl." Jadeite said as he kneeled before his leader. "Our new enemies, Sailor Moon and Zero are proving to be quite troublesome. They have been interfering with my operations as of late."

"Then you had best deal with them quickly. I don't tolerate excuses, and I do not allow repeated failures." she said, as she looked up from her crystal ball. She then looked him in the eyes before adding "If you cannot handle your responsibilities, I can always have Nephrite or Zoisite take your place."

"I will gather more energy for our great Ruler, and I will find the Silver Crystal." he said as he looked down under her gaze. He clenched his fist at the thought of either of those men taking over for him. Not only because of his own pride, but because such an action by Queen Beryl would mean he was no longer necessary at all. "And I will eliminate these two pests that have popped up"

"You had better, Jadeite. The limits of my patience should not be tested."

* * *

She didn't know what her expectations were for school today. Whether she expected something wild from Milly, or if it would be a dull day. This was certainly not what she would have ever expected though.

"I'll be joining the student body here at Ashford Academy beginning today. My name is Suzaku Kururugi. Its a pleasure to meet you all." said the new student standing at the head of the class. After they had rescued the man falsely accused of murdering Prince Clovis, going to school with him is not something she ever would have predicted. The only thing she could think was less likely was going to school with Zero himself, which couldn't be possible. Just because she was a Magical Girl now, didn't mean her imagination didn't still have its limits.

Suzaku looked around the room at his new classmates. Taking notes of people, like the red haired girl, a girl with orange hair, a blue haired boy, a nervous looking bespectacled girl with her hair in braided pigtails, the girl he saw in Shinjuku with Lelouch, a pair of students who clearly didn't like him already. Then there was-

' _Wait minute._ '

He almost did a double take, but managed to restrain himself. There was no mistaking it, it was the girl he had seen with Lelouch in Shinjuku. She watched on with the rest of the class, an amused expression on her face. He was relieved to know she was safe. ' _But then what about-_ '

Lelouch!

It was unmistakably him, sitting in a seat towards the back. After running into his old friend the other day, he couldn't possibly mistake him for anyone else. When he had been given his new school uniform, he had immediately recognized it as the same that Lelouch worse that day. He had wondered if he would see him here, but he hadn't expected to be in the same class. As thoughts ran through his mind, he managed to keep a passive face. He didn't want to cause any problems at this schol, especially on his first day.

Class was uneventful for the most part, though some students had to be silenced by the teach on multiple occasions. Some couldn't help but whisper about their new classmate. Some disapproving of an Eleven attending their school. Others, worried about going to school with someone who had been suspected of murder, even if such claims had been disproven. Kallen felt bad for him having to hear all of this gossip. He was Japanese, after all, even if he was in the Britannian military and possibly an idiot for turning down Zero's offer.

The thought of Zero brought back memories of the meeting last night, and she found herself not focusing on her class and the teacher's lesson. She was anxious at the thought of what could come next. She couldn't wait for Zero to contact them again, for their first official meeting, for his plans. She couldn't wait to see what he had in store for them and for his fight with Britannia. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she barely noticed when classes ended. As the teacher walked out of the classroom, he saw her notes stopped halfway. ' _I hope I can get what I missed off of some... Maybe Shirley or Nina will let me copy theirs._ '

At another desk, Suzaku packed up his supplies, preparing to head back to meet up with Lloyd and Cecile. As he was almost ready to leave, a certain young man walked behind him, knowing it would catch the Honorary Britannian's attention, heading to the door. Lelouch stood in the doorway for a moment, knowing Suzaku was looking at him and gave his collar a quick tug before walking out of the classroom. The sight of Lelouch doing one of their old secret signals made him feel nostalgic, as he got up from his own desk.

* * *

Stepping outside to the school building's roof, Suzaku saw Lelouch waiting for him by the guardrail. "Its been seven years since we last used this signal. Long time, huh?" Lelouch greeted him, performing the same gesture again.

"Meeting on the roof, like the old days. Really takes me back." Suzaku replied. "I'm glad you're okay, I've been worried." This reunion was one much happier than their previous one. There was no orders, no terrorists, and certainly no killings. Just two old friends meeting one again. They had gone seven years without seeing one another, not knowing what may have happened to the other. But both were safe, and they were happy to be able to spend time with each other after so long.

"I'm alive and kicking, thanks to you. You almost died... protecting me." He recalled the memory, an unfortunate one. He had thought Suzaku had indeed been killed until he showed up on the news a few days later. And as a suspect for the crime he himself committed.

"I was just returning the favor from seven years ago." he thought back to everything that happened back when they were kids. He recalled the good and the bad times. "By the way, that girl, the one from Shinjuku."

"She says her name is C.C. but she doesn't talk much about herself. Shes attending school here now. Thats about all I know about her." That was all he would tell Suzaku, at least. He didn't need to let his friend in on the details about her. Especially since he unfortunately turned down his offer to join him the other night. It was regrettable, as he had really hoped the two could work together, but it wasn't something he would hold against his friend.

"I see... Well, I'm glad she is safe as well. And your name, do I still call you Lelouch?"

"The records say Lelouch vi Britannia is dead. I still go by Lelouch, but its Lelouch Lamperouge now. But what about you, what happened with your court martial? And how did you end up enrolling at this school?"

"I was surprised as you are! A few days ago, I never would have expected us to be going to the same school. All charges dropped due to new evidence, so I was cleared. Someone arranged for a proper investigation, and I was told that person said someone my age should be in school."

"Well, I'm glad. Now, we just need you to meet Nunnally again."

"I'd act surprised on that, but knowing you, there was no way you'd be hear if she wasn't too."

* * *

"So Luna, about this Princess you're supposed to be looking for." Kallen asked her furry companion as the two walked along the campus. "Do you know if she is from a specific country? Like Britannia or some country in Europia?"

"Afraid not." the cat said with a sigh.

"I don't suppose you've asked C.C. already?"

"She just says she can't help us with that."

"Makes you wonder why we even bother asking her anything, right?" Kallen said and the two shared a brief laugh. It was at that moment, her phone began to ring. Wondering who could be calling her, she looked around her when she saw the name on the ID. With no one around, she answered. "Hey Ohgi, whats up?"

"Got some bad news. Just got some intel, Princess Cornelia is attacking the Blood of the Samurai right now."

"You mean the one thats the largest group in Central Japan? That Blood of the Samurai?"

"Unfortunately. I guess the rumors about how tough she is are true." The group in question may not have been on the level of the JLF, but they big and well supplied. They had plenty of old military weapons, and their organization put their little outfit to shame. If they were already under attack, she wondered what things would mean for them. "If you get a chance, talk to that C.C. girl. Tell her we'll need a way to get in touch with Zero ourselves. Odds are she is gunning for him."

"Got it." The call ended at that. She could tell how worried Ohgi had to be, not that she could blame him. She had heard some stories of Princess Cornelia, and all of them were about how ruthless she could be. Unlike Clovis, she was a warrior. She fought on the front lines, and her skills as a pilot were quite exceptional. With someone like that as their new enemy, she wondered about their chances.

Still though, they had Zero leading them now. And she had her own new powers as a Magical Girl. Things were different, far more than she could ever have imagined. She had some worry, but she still had her newfound hope for the future. She believed in Zero.

As she thought about what could come next, she spotted Nunnally with their maid making their way back to the clubhouse. Not giving it much thought, she approached her reflexively to greet her. "Hello, Nunnally." It was was only then that she thought about how odd that was. Reflexively? When did that become something of a habit? She'd only known the other girl for a matter of days at this point.

"Ah, hello Kallen!" she perked up. The blind girl was certainly happy to run into her, and Kallen didn't mind at least admitting to herself that she probably shared that sentiment. The more she seemed to spend time around the younger girl, the less she seemed to be resisting the draw she felt to her. She was always so sweet and kind after all. "Were you leaving?"

"Yeah, I was just heading home with Luna."

"Luna?"

"Ah, shes my cat." Kallen said picking up the animal and held her for Nunnally, who reached out to touch her. With a gentle touch, Nunnally rubbed her head before moving down to the side of her face.

"She has such soft fur." she said with a smile. Luna gave the girl an approving meow for her efforts. "Luna is such a wonderful name. Oh...?" she felt Luna's forehead and traced her fingers around her symbol there. "A furless spot shaped like a crescent moon. I see your name is very appropriate, Luna." Luna was thankful that she didn't refer to it as a bald spot. "Kallen, I was wonder, would you like to come to dinner?"

"Its a little sudden. I wouldn't want to be a burden on you and your brother."

"Not at all, I insist you join us."

* * *

It wasn't as if she had anything better to do. Until Zero contacted them, there wasn't anything that she could do with Ohgi and the others. And she preferred to spend as little time at her own depressing home as possible. She figured there was no harm in indulging her younger friend.

' _Friend, huh?_ ' She wondered when she started thinking of Nunnally as her friend. It was a feeling that seemed to come naturally though. And the girl made that natural feeling come easy with her own demeanor. Yes, she and Nunnally were indeed friends. There was any sense denying it.

"Hello Lelouch, I've returned home." Nunnally greeted as Kallen wheeled her in, having relieved Sayoko of this duty for the time being. Luna currently rested in Nunnally's lap, having been lulled to sleep by the younger girls gentle touch. "I invited Kallen over for dinner tonight. I hope you don't mind."

For his part, Lelouch hadn't expected this little encounter. But, his plan was already in motion, no chance to back out now. "I wasn't this but. But I've got a surprie for you myself, a very special present." he then put his finger to his lip, an obvious signal of silence.

"Really? What could it be?" Nunnally wondered aloud as Lelouch motioned to someone who had been in another room to come out. For her part, Kallen was shocked to see Suzaku Kururugi come out. She almost asked what he was doing here, but managed to keep quiet. He walked over to Nunnally and looked to Lelouch who nodden in approval. Kneeling down, he took her hand gently and held her palm with his own hands. It didn't take long for her to gasp in recognition. Taking her other hand, she felt them with her fingers. "Thank heaven. I knew it. I just knew you'd be alright." she said as tears of joy formed and she wiped them away.

"Its been a long time, Nunnally." Suzaku said, his tone soft.

For her point, Kallen didn't know what to make of everything going on. The Lamperouge siblings meeting with the new, Japanese student, the same young man she had helped rescue only a couple days ago beat out him showing up to go to school with her for things she least expected. But she also felt that perhaps she was intruding by being here for this apparent reunion. "Um, maybe I should leave. I don't want to be in the way." she said meekly.

"Oh, no, I don't want to be in the way if you already had plans with them."

"No, please, you both should stay." Nunnally said. Lelouch could only shrug. He actually agreed with Kallen, since he wanted to enjoy the reunion with the other boy and his sister. Seven years since the three of them had been together. But Nunnally had already insisted, so there was nothing he could do. "Please, I don't want either of you to feel like you need to go."

"Um, well, I guess I will join you. Though I still feel like I'm intruding..."

"Ah, I see you can already tell how hard it is to say no to Nunnally." Suzaku said with a chuckle. "Let me introduce myself."

"Not hard to know who you are, Suzaku Kururugi." He was reminded of Euphie's words yesterday, easily recognizing him. "I'm Kallen Stadtfeld."

Once all four were seated around the table, Nunnally spoke up. "Its been so long since we've seen you. You will stay the night, won't you?"

"About that." Lelouch interjected. "I've got better news; Suzaku is enrolled as a student here at Ashford Academy now. So you can see him any time you want to."

"Really? Is that true?" It was obvious to all how happy she was at that, her excitement not even trying to be contained.

"Well, I still have my military duties, so I can't be here every day..."

"Oh, you're... you're still in the military?" Now, her happiness seemed to dim a little. She cleared was worried about the boy, and what might happen to him.

"Don't worry." he reassured her. "I've been reassigned to the engineering corps. It should be a lot less dangerous."

"That sounds cool. Engineering, huh?" Lelouch said as he picked up a tea kettle and got up from his chair.

"Oh! Let me help you with that." Suzaku said as he got up from his chair.

Lelouch just smiled though and said "You just sit down. Unlike seven years ago, we get to be your hosts now." He hesitated for a brief moment before sitting back down. "Its funny. You're a lot more mellow now than you used to be."

"Maybe, but you're a lot more rough." Lelouch just laughed at that as he left the room.

"'Seven years ago,' huh?" Kallen mused out loud.

"Yes. We came here to this country and met Suzaku seven years ago, before the war." Nunnally said. "They fought at first, but Lelouch and Suzaku became very close friends. They spent a lot of time together."

"I see..." She had to admit, Lelouch and Nunnally were full of surprises. She hadn't really expected that they had lived in this country since before the occupation. It wasn't exactly common for Britannians. Then again, there was her own father...

"By the way." Suzaku spoke up. "I don't mean to be prying, but you wouldn't happen to be Lelouch's girlfriend or anything?"

She nearly spit out her food. "No! Its not anything like that! We only just met a few days ago!" she protested, her face turning red in embarrassment.

"Well thats surprising. With how well you get along with Nunnally, I figured you would have had to know them for a while now at this point."

"Nunnally is very fond of Kallen." Lelouch said as he returned with more tea. "For whatever reason, she took a strong liking to her."

"Well, she did save my life, at the restaurant where we saw Zero and Sailor Moon." Nunnally stated.

"You mean you've run into those two as well?" Suzaku was surprised at that. He had hardly expected to hear something like this.

"Oh yeah, they saved your life too, didn't they?" Lelouch said, recalling again the aftermath of the incident.

"'The pretty guardian who fights for love and for justice. In the name of the moon, she will punish you!' I quite liked Sailor Moon's introduction." Nunnally said earnestly, a smile on her face. "I thought it was a lovely Magical Girl speech. A Magical Girl who fights for love sounds like a wonderful story." Kallen didn't know whether to be flattered or embarrassed further. It was coming from someone as sincere as Nunnally, so she figure she should take the compliment.

"Ah, come to think of it, you did enjoy watching those Cure shows with Kaguya or when she read her Sakura to you."

"She would always help describe what was going on. I had fun, like when she would make me do those poses to help visualize." She smiled as she did one briefly. "How has she been?"

"Oh... well, I haven't heard from her in seven years either. We haven't been able to keep in touch either."

"Oh, thats too bad..." she seemed sad. Kallen figured the two had to have gotten along well. "I hope we get to see her again to, Lelouch."

Things continued from there as they ate dinner, the three of them reminiscing about their childhood. They'd bring up various stories, one mentioning an incident and then another mentioning something embarrassing about it for another. But they all looked so happy, Kallen couldn't help but feel she shouldn't be here. This should have been a proper reunion just for these old friends, and she was intruding on it by staying. Come to think about it, she thought back to her childhood of around the same time. She had gotten into a lot of trouble since she often didn't fit in with the other kids, a lot starting fights because she looked too Britannian. Still though, she had been happy with her brother and Ohgi.

Lost in her own thoughts, she was brought back when she was spoken to. "Hm, you know. Theres something familiar about you, Kallen." Suzaku said as he stared at Kallen's face. For her part, Kallen was doing a bad job of not getting nervous. "I think I've seen you before, somewhere..."

' _Theres no way! Theres NO way he knows!_ ' He couldn't possibly recognize her, right? Not even Zero seemed to be able to tell it was her. And if he couldn't recognize her, there shouldn't be any way for Suzaku to be able to tell she was Sailor Moon. C.C. was the only person who knew, and it had better stay that way! For his part, Lelouch remained calm. But his mind was going through a similar thought process, though not nearly as panicky. And not due to any form of embarrassment.

Then, as he stared intently, a flash of recognition. "Aha! The peach girl!"

"T-the... the what?" She didn't know what he meant, and the other boy looked at her quizzically.

"Alright, let's see if this rings a bell for anyone else" he said gesturing to both Lelouch and Kallen. "Two young boys coming back from getting peaches, as well as some other stuff. On their way to their bus home, one peach falls from a boy's basket, and rolls away. Its picked up by a young girl with red hair. The black hair boy comes off as jerk, so his friend needs to straighten him out. Before they miss their bus, the boy lets the girl keep the peach."

"That story... Ah!" Yes, she remembered it now! That memory of day from her childhood long ago. It was they day her family was moving out of Izu. She had been on her way to the train station with her mother and older brother. When she met those two boys, she remembered how the raven haired boy, who wasn't Japanese, seemed annoyed that he had lost a peach and that she had found it. She had at first returned it, and his friend, a Japanese boy, hit him and said he was being rude and should thank her. They had bickered a bit befire running to catch their bus, but before he left, the first boy forced the peach on her.

For Lelouch's part, too was recalling the meeting. He wondered, even back then, why he had decided to give her the peach. He had gotten them all for Nunnally, peaches were her favorite. But in the moment, before he had left, he felt an urge to give her one. He hadn't really had time to think further though since their bus was leaving but he did remember the weird feeling he briefly felt back then. All that said, he also recalled Suzaku's teasing about giving her the peach from the bus ride home.

"Wow, when you think about it, its almost like it was fate that you guy met each other again after all these years!" Nunnally said. "I love stories like this."

"Um, I guess so?" Kallen said, a little confused by what to make of all this.

"It may not be a significant event, but a chance encounter like that and meeting years later, its like something out of a storybook."

* * *

Sometime later that night, after dinner, after Kallen and her cat had left, Lelouch and Suzaku stood outside of the building used as the home of the Lamperouge siblings. "Quite a night, huh? Never expected a meeting like that." Suzaku commented. "It was great though, and I enjoyed it."

"I'll say." Lelouch laughed. The had been a bit of an awkward air in the room from him and Kallen after the realization, but Nunnally seemed happy. Even if it didn't go how he had planned, he was happy that she enjoyed herself so much tonight. "You should come by again sometime. Nunnally would really enjoy it."

"Sure, but..." Suzaku hesitated before continuing. "Lelouch... I don't think we should be seen together at school.

"What? What are you trying to say?"

"People would talk, say things about "Why is he friends with an honorary Britannian?". Your secret can't get out. No one can know you're royalty, right? I don't want to cause you two any trouble."

For Lelouch's part, this was unacceptable. Why try to be so selfless over this? Nunnally had so much fun tonight, she was so happy to see him again! He was against the idea, but he couldn't figure out the worst to stop him, to get him to listen. He felt he same way he did only a couple nights ago, when Suzaku had turned down his offer to join him as Zero.

* * *

"You know Luna, I know you slept most of the time, but it wasn't too bad." Kallen said to her cat. "Dinner with Nunnally and Lelouch was actually a lot more enjoyable than I expected."

Behind a nearby tree, Shirley Fenette, having ducked behind there as she saw Kallen walk out of the clubhouse, panicked. She had feared the worst right away. But to hear those fears confirmed, she didn't know what to do.

' _Are Kallen and Lulu... Are they going out!?_ '

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that closes the sixth chapter. I kinda bounced back and forth whether to to have Kallen be with Nunnally for Lelouch and Suzaku's surprise, but decided "why not?" The scene would have gone too much the same if I didn't find someway to change it.
> 
> The memory brought up was from an old Code Geass novel, called Red Tracks. It focused on things from Kallen's perspective. Like a lot of those old novels, its likely not canon, but I decided it was an interesting little bit I could include.
> 
> I had wanted to include some other stuff, but I decided to end here. Just seemed like the right place.


	7. Act VII: The Stolen Treasure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of the Code Geass or Sailor Moon franchises.

The scowl that currently adorned Jadeite's face was intense, and his anger was palpable. It was all the fault of those accursed pests, and he seethed at the thought of them. Thanks to Sailor Moon and Zero, his Queen was beginning to question his competence! To think, she was even suggesting replacing him with Nephrite or Zoisite! And if that happened, he would likely be disposed of...

For both his pride and his life, he had to do something to turn this situation around.

But for now, he would continue gathering energy. Unlike some of his cohorts, he preferred to focus on tangible goals. While finding the Silver Crystal was the bigger prestige, without knowing where to look, he would simply waste time. Until he had leads, gathering energy for the Ruler was the better use of his time than a potential wild goose chase.

And with that, he settled on his latest scheme.

* * *

"So whats the deal?" Rivalz asked Lelouch as they stood outside their classroom. Still early in the morning, their homeroom had yet to start. "You just disappeared yesterday. You didn't even show up for the meeting yesterday."

Nearby at her desk, Shirley tried to focus on something other than what she couldn't stop thinking about. It wasn't that she was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. Really, that wasn't her intention as she overheard Rivalz and Lelouch's talk. ' _Lulu never showed up yesterday, and neither did Kallen..._ ' She was supposed to be a sickly girl, so she hadn't thought much of it at the time. It had never been uncommon for her to just leave early on some days, or even not show up for days at a time. But now, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Not after what she had seen last night.

And that brought back the memory of what she had seen last night on a walk through the campus. She had felt restless and wanted to get some fresh air. Whether if by coincidence or her intention, she wasn't sure which at the moment, but she had wandered over to the clubhouse. And it was there that she had seen Kallen walk out of the place. She was confused at first, and ducked behind a tree. She wasn't sure why she had wanted to avoid being seen, but she hid regardless. And in doing so, she overheard what Kallen said. About how she had eaten dinner with him.

' _Come to think of it, they have been spending an awfully lot of time together lately._ ' She had seen her leave with Lelouch and Nunnally to go shopping the other day, and she had been with Lelouch and Nunnally the other day too. In fact, Lelouch is the one who got her onto the council. The thought of that just further worried her. Her mind was running wild as she thought of all the possibilities. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice everyone in the classroom suddenly stop talking as their newest classmate, Suzaku Kururugi, walk in. Though she did notice when a certain redhead enter the classroom. She didn't stare at her, as she certainly didn't want to get caught by said girl. That would only make her situation even more awkward. But she couldn't help but steal occasional glances at the her.

For her part, Kallen hadn't noticed the girl at all. She was taking more note of all the attention Suzaku was getting. When he had arrived yesterday, though even before she got to know him, she certainly felt sorry for him. Everyone was avoiding him, and was receiving icy glares from a number of students. No doubt they felt someone like him shouldn't even be here. Part of her wanted to say something to him, though she wondered if that might blow her cover or draw attention to her. Would people wonder why someone like her might suddenly approach an Eleven? Come to think of it, now that she thought about it, it looked like Lelouch and Suzaku were avoiding each other too. Did they want to avoid any unwanted attention too?

"Well, not much else I can do right now, I guess..." she mumbled to herself. The whole situation was gonna be a big pain in the ass, she could just tell.

"Hey, you."

Kallen recognized the voice, none other than C.C. and looked up to see said girl had walked up to Suzaku. Considering everything, all eyes in the classroom were on her, wondering what she was going to do. Kallen groaned inwardly, fearing that this girl was probably going to make even more problems for her.

"Can I help you?" the Japanese boy responded, not sure what might be going on. Other than his meeting with Lelouch, and subsequently Kallen, he hadn't really interacted with any students yet since arriving.

"Thanks for the help the other day."

"Oh, uh, it was nothing? I didn't really do anything." All he remembered was refusing to execute Lelouch and getting shot for his trouble. But her and Lelouch had survived, so he figured everything had to have gone well. Well, regardless, he knew it was best not to talk about the incident. He didn't want to make any trouble for her or Lelouch.

Without any other words, she walked over to her seat after that. People only started to whisper more as they wondered what the two were talking about and how they knew one another. "What was that about?" Kallen asked her.

"Nothing worth talking about."

With a groan, she wondered why does she even bother with this girl.

* * *

School proceeded uneventfully for the day from then on, at least for her. For others though, they were dealing with other problems. One of those people was a certain young man who just arrived. The other though, was ditching class to take care of some more pressing matters. School was towards the bottom of his priorities now, and beginning his long awaited fight was far more important to him.

"I've set up this line so that we can contact one another. This should make things easier in the future." Lelouch said into the phone. He currently stood in the stairwell, avoiding PE as he was prone to do. On the other end was his new subordinate, the man Kaname Ohgi. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

"It hasn't made the news yet, but the Blood of the Samurai group was wiped out by Cornelia." he said getting straight to the point. He appreciated that. Though he would have preferred it in a more confident voice. "They were the largest resistance group in central Japan, and they were crushed easily."

"Numbers alone don't generate victory. Cornelia is too much for the average resistance. Unlike Clovis, she has real battlefield experience. Its best not to underestimate that."

"R-right, I get that. What worries me is that shes clearly gunning for you, Zero. It won't be long now until she comes looking for us."

"Just sit back for now. Our chance is nearing. Just be ready." And with that, he hung up. For now, his new subordinate was much too hesitant. Not of the goals, but he seemed too easily shaken. But he supposed that was to be expected from a group like this. These regular people who had taken up arms, not trained soldiers. And only a small-time group with little success. He would need to work on building their confidence.

For his part, his own preparations were going smoothly, thanks of course to his Geass. Really, that had to have been the greater tool than his newfound abilities. Even with his limitations on it, the sky was the limit if he used it right. He was already in the process of using it to acquire necessary supplies and covering his tracks. Once the uniforms were done, he'd be ready to move to the next phase and plan an ideal stage to make their grand entrance. He already had a few ideas in mind, just a matter of what would serve best. ' _Perhaps a base of operations would be good. I think I should be able to get something mobile._ ' he thought to himself.

With a smirk on his face, he deposited his phone into his pocket. He was glad, more so than he had been for a long time. It was finally time. He finally had the means to begin his long awaited desire. He had gone the last seven years, living a lie. Indeed, he was always genuinely happy to have Nunnally by his side and to be at hers. But he had longed for this moment to come for every day for seven long years. And nothing, not even Cornelia, would stand in his way.

As he began to leave his hideaway from his least favorite class, he noticed something outside. A person by the outdoor sinks. A person he knew all too well. "What is Suzaku...?" he questioned to no one. He appeared to be washing something, though it was impossible to make out what from this angle. Though by chance, he soon got an answer to his unspoken question as Suzaku lifted it up. And his eyes widened as he saw exactly what it was.

It was the school PE uniform, obviously belonging to him. And on it was a message in red spray paint.

 _Go Back to Your Ghetto_.

* * *

Around this time, in another part of the school, a certain creature was wandering around the grounds. The creature, a feline, had arrived here this day and walked around the campus with curiosity. Currently, it walked along the hallways of a certain building. Inside, it eventually came to a door that had been carelessly left open. Inside, it found rows of lockers. As it looked around, it seemed oblivious to the approaching voices.

Entering into the locker room now were some of the girls getting out of PE. Among them was Kallen. Thanks to her sickly act, she was often exempt from participating in PE or at least from doing anything too strenuous, so she would just clear out of there quickly. Of course, part of her always wished she could be a little more unrestrained. Or at least just more active in general. Regardless, this was her act and she unfortunately had to stick to it. She let out a sigh at that thought as she undressed.

Her, C.C. and a few other girls deposited their PE clothes into their lockers before heading over to the showers to wash off before changing. As she scrubbed herself off, she thought to her...friend? Associate? She wasn't sure what to call C.C. when she thought about it. It was off seeing the girl who had given her the power she now wielded going about as if she was a normal schoolgirl. Even if she did half-ass during PE. She seemed disinterested during class, and she wasn't sure that she was even doing any work at all. Nevertheless, the mysterious classmate was here beside her all the same. And as usual, her thoughts wondered to the recurring subject about the girl and she asked herself once more. Just who is she anyway? Of course, she knew full well by now that she would never answer that question. So she just went about her shower.

After the quick wash, she wrapped her towel around her and made her way to her locker. Ash she pulled her clothes out, her brooch fell loose from her uniform, trying to catch it, she only grazed it and instead causing it to be knocked away and slid across the floor. She didn't think it would be damaged. Magical items should be able to withstand something like this, right? Still though, she cursed herself for her carelessness. However, while she wasn't worried much yet, that was all about to change. She saw where it had stopped, right in front of a cat. She wasn't sure how that cat got in here, but she stopped caring about that thought as she watched it pick up her transformation brooch and started to walk off.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" she shrieked as she ran over to try and stop it, though the noise only seemed to have spooked it. "No, no, NO!" she let out in a panic as she ran at it. This couldn't be happening! This _shouldn't_ be happening!

"Kallen, whats wrong?" one of her classmates asked as she and some others came running from the shower after hearing her scream.

"That cat!" she pointed over to it, her exasperation at this situation coming through in her voice. "That cat took my brooch!"

They didn't need to hear more. While Kallen probably didn't really know them well, they weren't bad people. They wanted to help her with her sudden unforeseen plight. "We'll help you catch that kitty!" one said and others nodded in agreement. What followed would be a sight to behold. Girls in various states, some with towels on, some at least in their underwear or partially dressed, and some not so fortunate, began their pursuit if this cat. Luckily, said cats options were limited. The doors and windows were shut, so it had nowhere to go.

Kallen pursued behind it, though it went underneath a divider and lost her. However, on the other side were a pair of girls on either side trying to block it. As they closed in on it, it went beneath the legs of one, and they other girl slipped as she tried to stop it, still wet from her shower, and bumped into the other girl. It ran and another girl grabbed at it, but it jumped up to avoid her and stepped on her back. It then bounced off of her, onto the head of another girl and onto the top of the row of lockers. Watching it, the girls watched it go to the other end of the lockers and leap down.

"No you don't!" C.C. said as she went to grab at it. She knew the significance of that item, and she certainly wasn't going to risk it being lost. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't quick enough, and the cat swerved to avoid her. Not giving up, she continued pursuit. Unfortunately, she ran right into another girl who came around the corner, and the two fell back.

Kallen had come around, and she and two other girls chased it into the shower area. Many of them were still running, being abandoned when they heard Kallen scream. Not looking where she was going, Kallen stepped on a bar of soap and slipped. The two girls behind her bumped into her and they all fell and slid right underneath a running showerhead. From the heap of girls, she watched the cat run out of the shower area.

And then, the worst possible outcome happened, and the door of the locker room opened. Nina stepped in, and watched in confusion as a cat ran by her legs. "NOOOOO!" Kallen got up, and she ran out the door, C.C. and two other girls right behind her. Not seeing which way down the hall the cat ran, she turned left while other went right. Unfortunately for her, she was reminded of another thing about the situation as a door in the hall open and a certain boy stepped out through a doorway. She immediately remembered her state of dress, or lack there of, and turned around and darted back to the locker room, and she heard the shrieks of the other few girls. She surmised that they had encountered a similar etback.

"W-what just happed...?" Lelouch said, he was confused by what he had just seen transpire. He decided the best course of action was to leave quickly and pretend he saw nothing. Yes, he figured it was better for him and Kallen if he pretended he didn't see as much of her as he just did. And he certainly wasn't going to bring it up and ask why she had been running down the hallway naked.

* * *

While Kallen was off searching for the cat, Lelouch returned home, unaware of what was already going on for Kallen and C.C. right now. Classes had ended early for today, due to a scheduled assembly later, to watch the televised funeral of Prince Clovis. While he would rather not attend, attendance was mandatory and it would be harder getting out of it unnoticed. For now, he would simply go along to avoid unnecessary attention. But he still had plenty of time before that annoyance.

He removed his mask from the inside of his school uniform, and placed it on a table inside of his room. Even if it was easy enough for him to conceal, keeping it on it in there did become uncomfortable after a while. Though it was important to have it on him in case he needed to transform into Zero at a moment's notice, that didn't mean he needed to carry it around constantly while in his own home. It wasn't as if he was expecting any potential enemies, the military or monsters, to suddenly show up. Nothing bad should happen here.

Leaving is room for now, he didn't notice that there was a new, furry visitor into his home, and had come into his room. Entering in through his open window, a certain cat had come in just as he exited his bedroom. Fleeing from its pursuers, the stray cat stood on the windowsill , then leaped over to the next platform. Said platform also happened to be the table he had placed his mask onto before leaving.

Though as said Lelouch himself was completely unaware of this as he had sat down to have some tea with his sister. Naturally, they would talk about what was on their mind, and there was only one thing, or rather person, on their mind right now. Nunnally had recounted to her older brother the things she had heard today about Suzaku. People were either afraid of him and others strongly disliked him being here at all. Many students seemed to want him gone.

"Yeah, I had a feeling things weren't going so well..." He recalled the site he had seen not long ago, of Suzaku's vandalized uniform. "Someone like him showing up suddenly, its not going to go smoothly. Even if he was cleared of all charges, the stigma of being accused of the things he was isn't going to vanish overnight." And being Japanese certainly didn't help his case either right.

"Isn't there anything we can do for him? He is our friend." Nunnally said. He could tell, she hated the idea of what Suzaku was going through. Even if a little, she wanted to do something to alleviate and even dispel the attitude that these students seemed to have towards him. She knew he was a good person, and wanted other people to say that too.

For Lelouch's part, he also wanted to do something, but was reminded of his last conversation with the boy last night. He would rather pretend they didn't know each other to protect them. Still though, there had to be something, anything that could be done...

He was interrupted from his thoughts as he saw something. Something that would make his blood run cold. Lelouch stood up quickly and let out a yelp, that was a mixture of shock and horror. What he saw before him was a cat, and on its head was his mask! And as if to taunt him, it looked at him and meowed before running out the door! "Hey! Give that back!" he said, not saying anything to his sister as he took off after it. This couldn't be happening! This _shouldn't_ be happening!

Nunnally was only left in confusion, not sure what just happened. "Lelouch? What is going on?" she wondered to herself, knowing her brother seemed to be long gone by now. She couldn't imagine what had gotten her brother so worked up.

Lelouch meanwhile was in hot pursuit of the cat. Even as it leaped out of open window, he awkwardly climbed himself through it. Though his less than adequate physical abilities were not doing him any favors right now. For his part, he was also complaining, very valley at that, about what was transpiring for him right now. "A cat! A stupid, lousy cat! There is no way I'm getting exposed by a damn feline!"

Not far from him, a certain girl watched him run a distance away from him. Though unfortunately for both of them, said girl had not seen what he had been chasing or heard what he was saying.

"Wonder whats got him so worked up all of a sudden?" C.C wondered as she paused for a moment to catch her breath a bit. "Well, I'm sure he can handle it..." She had more pressing matters, to find that damn cat. She couldn't believe Kallen had lost the brooch and to a mere cat! Whatever had gotten Lelouch bothered right now, she was certain that it wasn't on the level of importance of finding a magic transformation item. She then took of in the opposite direction from him.

* * *

It wasn't long after taking off, a certain even was occurring. Something that would make things worse and more complicated for everyone involved in this little incident. And also for people not yet involved in this incident. Nunnally was at her doorstep with three others, Milly, Nina and Rivalz.

"Yeah, thats right." Nunnally said as she explained what she knew about why her brother wasn't here. "I think a cat ran off with something pretty important to him."

"Important?" Milly asked. She liked the sound of where this was going. In fact, she was already getting ideas of what she could and would do.

"I don't know what it was, but I'm positive it had to be something that had value to him. I've never heard my brother sound like that. He was completely hysterical!"

"Huh. That sure sounds weird..." Rivalz said, trying to see if he could think of anything that it might be. In his time knowing the guy, he couldn't think of ever seeing him or hearing about him getting like this. He was usually so calm and collected, and seemed like nothing could phase him. He'd seen the way the guy gambled, and no matter how the odds might look at the start and no matter the situation he would enter into, he would never flinch. "Wonder what could be so important to the guy that he'd get like this?"

"Come to think of it... Kallen and C.C. were chasing a cat earlier too." Nina said. She remembered them running out of the locker room naked and then coming back a short while later to get dressed. Them and some other girls were talking about chasing a cat that had taken something from Kallen. She wondered if it was connected. "They left the locker room after PE in such a hurry..."

"Oh ho. This is getting even juicier." Milly said, a wide grin on her face. Oh yes, she knew exactly what to do. She exchanged looks with Rivalz, who had a similarly wide grin plastered on his face. Whatever was going on, she was dying to know! She had to know! "Leave it to us, Nunnally! We'll get our hands on this before any of them! Just you wait!" She said with a thumbs up. She didn't know what was going on, but she was going to do her damnedest to find out.

* * *

Surprisingly for someone of his ability, Lelouch had yet to lose the cat. While he was far from catching it, he was at least managing to follow it. ' _Maybe I if I had those terrorists with me, we could encircle the area. Maybe Kallen? No, I can't risk letting her see the mask..._ ' He was doing his best to try and think of something, _anything_ , that could solve this situation as quickly as possible. He followed around a corner the cat had turn at, and looked around. He didn't see it at first, but then noticed it had made its way onto a roof of the building. He did his best to follow along on the ground, though ended up running into and tripping over a bush. As he was still entangled in the greenery, the cat leaped down and doubled back and passed right by him.

"Its almost like its taunting me..." he groaned as he got himself out. Picking himself back up, he panicked further as he saw the cat run right through a doorway. Running around outside was bad enough, but there were certainly still students inside. Following through himself, he watched as the cat stopped briefly near a pair of gossiping girls. Though they didn't seem to notice it at first, it didn't remain unseen for long.

"Whats with this cat?" one girl wondered allowed.

"Is that Zero's mask?" the other asked in disbelief.

"Nah, couldn't be. Why would that be hear?"

"You two, forget everything you've just seen!" he wasted no time in activating his Geass, and the two girl's obliged his simple but imperative command. This was gettin more out of hand by the moment! Now the mask had been seen by at least two people. He was thanking whatever was there for his swiftness in keeping it under warps for now, but what about the next person? He had been testing the limits of his Geass on various people around the school, learning the full scope of what it could and couldn't do. What if one of those people saw it next?

How could this possibly get any worse!?

And as if to answer that sentiment, there was a tone to signal an announcement as the school's speakers transmitted the message. " _This is Milly Ashford, your Student Council President. Cat hunt, everyone!_ "

"DAMN IT, MILLY!"

* * *

Shirley Fenette stood at the top of a diving board, and the highest one the pool had. While she was a member of the Student Council, she also spent time in the school's Swimming Club. She had managed to distract herself from what had been bothering her last night. She loved to swim, and it always helped her clear her head. At least here, she could forget about Lelouch and Kallen for a time. Nothing was going to bother her here.

" _This is Milly Ashford, your Student Council President. Cat hunt, everyone!_ "

She paid no mind to whatever crazy plot her friend had currently concocted. She wasn't going to concern herself with it. Instead, she was preparing for her dive. Whatever it was, it didn't sound like it was going to affect her.

" _Theres a cat loose on campus that needs to be rounded up! Put everything on hold, people! Participating clubs will get budget priority! And whoever catches our feline friend will get an extra special prize! A big 'ole kiss from one of the members of the council!_ "

Shirley completely lost her balance there. She tried to reclaim it, but to no avail. She screamed as she tumbled forward, all while Milly gave a mad cackle into the PA. She made a big splashdown with her far from perfect dive.

She came up shortly after and yelled out. "WHAT!?"

* * *

"Damn it, why is Milly getting involved?" Kallen cursed, still running around campus. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of that cat since it had gotten away from them at the lockers. She and C.C. had split up, but she had yet to heard from her since. And now Milly was looking for it too, and promising a kiss from a student council member. It was just gonna add to the chaos. Then again, having more people look out for it might not be so ba-

"Wait a second, _I'M_ a Student Council member!" she stopped in shock, the weight of Milly's statement finally hitting her.

" **EXACTLY!** "

Two groups of students burst out from around her, causing her to wonder where they suddenly came from. From their getups, she gathered they had to have been from two separate clubs, guessing one was from some filming or movie making club and the other from a gardening club from their attire and equipment. The talked excitedly among each other, Kallen not bothering to follow their conversation, still thunderstruck by the sudden declaration of Milly. All she managed to gather before they excitedly took off was that they wanted to find it so that she would have to kiss one of them.

She was left stunned even as they took, though the moment that she regained her senses, she started to run again. "As if I need another reason to find that stupid cat! There is no way that this is going to be how I get my first kiss!"

" _And when you do catch that cat, bring what its carrying to me! To me! To meeeee!_ " she said over the loudspeaker, letting out more of her mad laughter before coughing.

* * *

In another part of the campus, a cat was walking around the school, though not the thieving feline currently being sought out across the Academy. Luna was confused by what was going on. She had heard the announcement and now the whole school seemed to be going mad looking for a cat on campus.

"W-wait a minute..." _She_ was a cat on campus. And as if on cue to her realization, she was suddenly spotted and surrounded by a trio of students. She looked nervously from one to the next, watching as they eyed her up. She feared that she knew exactly where this was going...

"Hey, thats a cat! You think thats the one!"

"Its a cat here on the school grounds, so thats gotta be it"

"Quick, grab it!"

"MEEOOW!" Luna let out in shock as she took off running, with the trio of students jumped at her. She glanced back at them briefly, but doing so nearly cost her dearly. She turned quickly to avoid the student that had tried to block her path. She weaved between various students who all made grabs at her as she passed. ' _What is going on here!?_ ' She then turned around to avoid the wall of students that had appeared in her path and made her way in the direction with the least amount of people.

Her heart skipped a beat as she heard something; A horse's neigh. With dread, she turned around to confirm her fears. A group of student on horseback were coming right towards her! "MRROOOOWWW!" she screamed. She had to get away and fast! Thinking quick, she mad a mad dash towards the nearest building. While their might be more students in there, she could at least get away from the group on horseback. But things were not going to be easy for her, as at that moment a group of students in full football uniforms stood in her way!

' _Why is this happening!?_ ' she screamed internally as she did her best to avoid being caught. As she avoided each player as the students on horseback drew neared, she spotted the perfect avenue of escape. When one student dove at her, she leaped up and used his back as a springboard, leaped to another student and then the next. Finally, she leaped from that student and to a nearby tree, and leaped from the branch she stood on and into an open window on the second floor. "Phew, looks like I got-"

"Hey look! That has be the cat!"

"Lets catch it! I want that kiss!"

"MEOW!" she screamed as she took off running once more.

* * *

"First I lose my magic brooch, and now I'm being offered up as a prize!" Kallen cursed as she ran through a hallway. She slowed down briefly as she noticed a pair of female students come down, then once they passed started running again. "And meanwhile, I have to keep pretending I'm sick and feeble at a time like this!" She was not happy by any margin. Today was easily one of the worst and most humiliating days of her life.

As she turned a corner, she collided with another student. Getting knocked back though still on her feet, she switched back to her usual school persona. "I'm so sorry about that, I-" She started to apologize then got a good look at just who she had bumped into, and the state that she was in. "Shirley? Why are you dressed like that?"

"I didn't have time to change!" she said in a panic. Sure enough, she still wore her school swimsuit, and still seemed fairly wet even. "They're gonna make up kiss somebody! Kallen, you gotta help me catch that cat!"

"Of course! Lets go!" She was glad that she had finally found someone reasonable enough in this whole mess. The two started to run together, though Kallen was holding herself back to maintain her facade of weakness. She was glad to have another helping hand in this mess. Between her, C.C. and now Shirley, hopefully they could finally catch that animal, get back her brooch and protect her lips.

* * *

Meanwhile in the PA room, the mastermind of this new ordeal sat at her position, having a glass of water to help her throat. With a devious smirk, she turned to her cohorts of Rivalz and Nina, and of course to Nunnally. With the whole school on the case, she was sure to get that cat before Lelouch could. After all, she had seen him in PE, she knew the extent, or lack there of, of his physical abilities. There wasn't any chance that he could catch that cat with everything in her favor. And with the incentive, she knew everyone would be giving it 110%, what with some of the most popular students of both sexes as members. Her plan was absolutely perfect! Completely fool proof!

But even more than that, she was enjoying the fun. She loved throwing big events like this, having parties, anything she could organize something crazy. She lived for moments like this, always wanted to make every day of her and the rest of the school's student body and unforgettable experience. And all in all, she would have to say that it was going very well. The students could take their minds off of things like Prince Clovis's death or Zero or the new transfer student, anything that could be bothering or bringing them down. They could forget all that and have some fun.

"Nunnally, is there anything about this cat that is special?" Nina asked the younger girl, seeing if they could get any more details about the situation.

Milly placed the microphone in front of her as she "I think that its leg must be hurt, because its footsteps sounded off to me." she said, recalling the sounds she had heard when the whole incident had started. "Oh, and it meowed like this."

* * *

" _MEOW!_ " Nunnally's voice echoes throughout the campus, and many of the other students repeated it. C.C. wasn't one of them as she ran through the hallways of the school. Instead, she chose to focus on what she had seen pass by in front of her, a cat that had ran by in the hallway ahead of her. Without thinking twice, she went off in the direction she had seen it go. As she did, she noticed something as she passed by an intersection, Kallen and Shirley coming down from another direction.

"Kallen! I saw the cat down that way!" she declared, gesturing for her to follow.

"Ah, thats great, C.C.!" Shirley said as she followed, now borrowing Kallen's uniform blazer to wear over her swmsuit. She figured the green haired girl was just as defensive about having to give a kiss to someone as her and Kallen. She remained completely unaware of the true reason that they were in pursuit. "We're gonna catch that cat!" she declared loudly.

"If we work together, we should be able to corner that crafty little monster." Kallen said, and the trio of girls ran down the hall.

Reaching the end, they looked down both ways, and Shirley pointed to the left side. "Its going that way!" Sure enough, the all the way down at the other end, they could see a cat running. "After it! Quick!" And they did, and they saw the cat dive underneath a table to hide.

Kallen was glad to have finally cornered that monster cat. After everything it had put her through, she could finally end her nightmare. Her brooch would be back in her hands and she wouldn't have to worry about having to kiss anyone. "Okay, lets surround it. You two cover me as I go for it."

' _If Kallen catches it here, we won't have to be forced to kiss anyone._ ' Shirley thought. ' _Wait, if Kallen catches the cat here, does that mean she would get the reward?_ ' As Kallen took a step forward, Shirley's doubts won out over other matters, and she suddenly chose now to bring up what was bothering her. "Uh, wait a sec!" she blurted out, and the redhead stopped and turned around in confusion. "Um... who would you want to get a kiss from?"

"W-what!?"

"Is there anyone in particular?" Shirley questioned. She feared the potential answer, dreading if she might respond with the name of a certain boy. She once again thought back to last night and seeing the girl exit from Lelouch's residence.

"Wait, what!? Where is this coming from all of a sudden?" Her face turning almost as red as her hair. She desperately wanted to not have this conversation.

"Oh, um, I guess... I just..." Shirley sputtered, losing her nerve, her face turning red and looking away from Kallen's gaze. She was kicking herself from even bringing this up right now and being put on the spot.

"Hey, both of you." C.C. said, having gone for the cat while the other two got distracted. "I've got some bad news..." She then held out the feline she had caught for them to see. And rather than one with a brooch or the mask they were still completely unaware of, the cat had nothing. What the cat did have though, was a furless patch on its forehead in the shape of a crescent moon.

"It was just Luna..." Kallen said, hanging her head. Which meant her nightmare continued.

* * *

While the girls met with failure, Lelouch had managed to keep his pursuit. He had a few close calls that required a quick use of his Geass, but he had fortunately avoided disaster. He was however, running out of steam. Not really one for physical activity, he had probably run more today than he had in an average week. He wished right now he could activate his powers without the mask right now, this whole mess would have been over before it started if he could. But alas, he here he was now,

And it was at this moment, he encountered a familiar and friendly yet unwanted at this point in time face. "Lelouch? You're looking for the cat too?" Suzaku said in surprise to run into him. He of all people probably knew better than anyone what Lelouch's attitude towards physical activity was. He figured from the way his friend was breathing heavily right now that hadn't changed in the last seven years. He would be correct, but Lelouch would never tell him that.

Before conversation could take place, they could here the cat's meowing coming from above them, and a stairwell before them. Neither had to think as they ran towards the stairs, Suzaku taking the lead easily.

"Suzaku, wait! Don't go up there!"

"But the Student Council President said to catch it!"

"Don't worry about, I'll get the cat!"

"I was always more agile than you! Remember when that little bird got loose?"

"Quit talking ancient history!"

"It was only seven years ago!"

By this point, Lelouch was starting to slow down as Suzaku kept going on, now at least two levels higher than him. Their little back and forth not helping matters. But the young man driven by the importance of keeping his secret safe continued. As they made their way up, a group of student had gathered outside. While luckily for Lelouch, no one got a good look at it, the cat had been seen going into this location from afar. People had also seen students go in after it. Shirley, C.C. and Kallen carrying Luna were among the group gathered, and Nina arrived pushing Nunnally. Milly and Rivalz were the last to arrive on his bike, having driven around the school in search of it themselves.

"So someone has it corned, huh? Who is the lucky winner?" Milly excitedly asked. This was it, the moment of truth! She would at last have her hands on whatever it was Lelouch was so worried about. She was brimming with energy at the though, and couldn't wait to find out!

"I see him, up there!" Shirley said, seeing a boy crawling along the roof of the clocktower.

"Is that...Suzaku?" Kallen said, barely able to make him out from down there.

Up there, Suzaku made his way up slowly, trying to reassure the cat and not scare it away. He had seen the cat go up to where the school bell was, so he figured there shouldn't be anywhere for it to go from here. So as long as he didn't startle it and cause it to attack him, this should be easy enough. Besides, this high up, going to fast and slipping could spell the end, not just of the chase, but of far more.

"Suzaku, come back!" Lelouch protest as he came out next from the window, finally having caught up.

"Its alright, you can leave this to me." the Japanese boy replied. "I can handle it."

That was the opposite of what his Britannian friend wanted right now. Not being able to wait, Lelouch quickly came out and onto the roof himself. If he had been more calm like he normally was, he would have been more cautious when doing so. But he was frantic and more reckless than he normally was, and thus he proceeded too fast. This was a mistake that would prove to be severe as he slipped and lost his footing and grip and began to slide down to certain doom. "Gah!" He could only let out a yelp as it happened.

Or at least, that is how the situation would appear. In actuality, it was calculated gamble. At this point, the only way he was going to have a chance to retrieve the mask before Suzaku was with a distraction. And only one of greater importance would suffice. And seeing how if he got caught anyway and his secret got out, the life of Lelouch Lamperouge would effectively be over anyway. And so, with this last ditch effort, he put everything on the line here. And the situation looked very real, and very dire.

Below, the students all let out a collective gasp at the site, all dreading what was sure to come next. No one gathered want to see the boy fall to what was sure to be certain death from that height. One in particular, Kallen, felt a sudden and strange tightness in her chest at that. She did want to see this again. Had the situation been less dire, she might have questioned the part of "again" being in said feeling. But that familiarity went unnoticed and would be forgotten by her as quickly as it came.

"Lelouch!" Suzaku abandoned his efforts to capture the animal and instead focus on the more important matter at hand. He released his grip and let himself slide down the incline, not offering any resistance unlike the boy in danger. He grabbed the window to stop himself and simultaneously secured his friend by the wrist, saving him just as he started to go offer the edge. "Are you... okay?"

"Y-yeah." he managed to reply, not sure what else to say. He inwardly congratulated himself on his effective gambit, everything going as predicted. As Suzaku pulled himself up, he looked up and past him. He saw that damned cat right under the bell. But then, he watched as it turned around and his mask come off atop of its head. And to his relief, his fell down along the roof and become caught on a protrusion of the room. He breathed a sigh of relief at this sight, glad that this chaos could finally end.

"Pretty calm for someone on the verge of death, aren't you?" Suzaku asked as he finally got him to the window and let him stand up.

"More like frozen with fear." Lelouch said. "You really saved me there."

Below, the students had witness this all unfold, many started to whisper among themselves at what they had just seen. "Whats going on now?" Nunnally asked, completely unsure of anything that had just traspired.

"Suzaku just saved Lelouch. He nearly fell off the roof just now." Kallen told her younger friend. At that, Nunnally's face brightened up immeasurably. Kallen had a feeling she could imagine why.

The student waited below, many wanting to see what would happen next. Some minutes later, Suzaku emerged from the clocktower, carrying the cat. As he did, he began to recognize it, much to his surprise. It was the same cat from the other day that he had run into with Euphie. He wondered how it had gotten all the way here. Was it just a coincidence? However, he was broken from these thoughts as he saw the crowd gathered around him. He could tell all eyes were on him, but no one said a word. The awkwardness multiplied by the moment, and he wondered what he should do or if he should do anything at all.

However, one student in particular finally decided that she was going to end the silence herself. "You saved him. Thank you so much, Suzaku!" Shirley said as she approached him. She wasn't hesitant at all and her enthusiasm was enough to dispel that of some others.

"Yeah, way to go there, new guy!" Rivalz joined in.

"That cat had something, right?" Milly asked. Lelouch was safe, so she was far more interested in finding out the secret than dwelling on anything.

"Uh, yeah. I think there was something on its head?" Suzaku replied. "I couldn't really get a good look at it. I guess it came off somewhere when I wasn't paying attention."

"So where is Lulu now?" Shirley asked.

"Oh, he said he forgot something and to go ahead without him."

"THATS IT!" Milly declared, pointing forward. "Its the big secret he is hiding!"

"Ah, so thats what this was all about." a voice spoke out, and Lelouch stepped out. His mask retrieved, he had folded it up and stowed it away. His crisis was officially completely averted.

"Awww, thats no fun." she pouted. Her fun for the day had officially come to and end, it seemed. "And here I was, thinking I'd get some dirt on you this time."

"You two, you know each other, right?" C.C. asked.

"But... hes an Eleven." Nina said, her tone a nervous one. She had been among the students who were fearful of Suzaku's presence here at school. She was very much afraid of Elevens. Ather words, several students turned to her, and there was an awkward silence.

"No, I just..." Suzaku trailed off, not knowing what to say. He didn't want to be an inconvenience for Lelouch and Nunnally. He didn't want to cause them any trouble for knowing someone like him.

She wasn't sure what came over her, but seeing Suzaku's hesitation made her want to do something. She thought back to the happy reunion she had been privvy to last night, and she wanted that to continue. She didn't want either side to feel like they needed to hide a friendship just because one was Jaanese. "Why do you seem so worried? You two already told me you were good friends yesterday." Kallen said suddenly, catching him and the others off guard. "Nunnally, you should tell them the stuff you told me."

"Hm, which stuff?" the blind girl said, placing her finger thoughtfully to her chin. She could see, figuratively what Kallen was doing. "I did say my brother and Suzaku have been friends for a very long time, I think."

"Yes, thats right. He is my friend." Lelouch said, very appreciative of his sister and Kallen's efforts of breaking the ice here. He then placed a hand on the other boy's shoulder, and gave him a look that told him it was all going to be fine. He didn't want to hide their friendship, and he wasn't going to do it any more. "Madam President, would you allow him as a member of the student council? The rules say clubs are mandatory, so he'll need a place on one."

The sudden request had come as a great shock to everyone, barring Kallen, C.C. and Nunnally. But once that surprise wore off, Mily took a moment. "Well, I suppose I can't turn down a request like that from my vice president. Sounds good to me."

The news went over well with Shirley and Rivalz, and Nunnally wheeled herself forward. "Now that everything is settled, come here you two. Lend me and ear." The two were visibly confused by her request, but leaned forward for her regardless. She then gave both a quick peck on the cheek. "There you go, the reward Milly promised. Since you both caught the cat, you'll just have to settle for junior member like me!" she said with her usual sweetness and innocence. She was grateful that they all could help Suzaku, and seeing others like Shirley and the rest accept him so easily. She knew that people would if they would just give him the chance he deserved.

"Okay, we should all celebrate the catching of the cat!" Rivalz joined in. "Naturally, everything is on the new guy, right?"

"Oh, quit it, Rivalz!" Shirley scolded, her tone stern. Then, turning to Suzaku , she gave him a bright smile and said "Hi, I'm Shirley!" Rivalz and Milly followed her lead and gave their names right after. Nina stayed back though and said nothing.

At first, Suzaku seemed overwhelmed, but looking from these three to Lelouch and Nunnally, and even to Kallen, he was happy. When he had been told to go to school, he hadn't known what to expect, but he grateful now more than ever for coming. In this moment, he could relax. "Its nice to meet you all. I'm Suzaku."

As this was going, Lelouch walked over to Kallen. "Thanks for the help here." he said to her.

"It wasn't anything. It just looked like he needed a little nudge."

"Is that right?" He wasn't surprised the girl would have sympathies inclined towards the Japanese boy, and he appreciated them more than usual right now. He then reached into his pocket. "Anyway, I think this is yours." He held out a familiar brooch for her. It had been within his mask when he retrieved the mask earlier. He could more than merely imagine what she must have gone through today.

"Ah! My brooch!" She was elated to have finally recovered her transform trinket. "Thanks, you have no idea how important this thing is."

Out of the corner of her eyes, Shirley observed the exchange. She pretended for herself that she didn't notice it and carried on with Suzaku's welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that closes the seventh chapter. I had a few other plans for this chapter, but decided to split them up and make them their own chapter. As the chapter went on, felt more and that both could stand up as their own chapter. Also debated whether or not to include the scene of the Emperor's speech here, and ultimately decided against it. I liked where I ended the chapter, and the scene was important to the overall event of the chapter. Maybe I'll lead off next chapter with it, maybe not.
> 
> For the chapter itself, I wanted to do something a little different with it so I added the stolen brooch. I debated whether to swap out the mask entirely, but I left it in to keep the way Suzaku joins the council. I had also debated whether to have another find the brooch, but abandoned that plan when I decided to split up the chapter since it tied in with the idea being pushed back next chapter. I then debated whether to have it returned to her or have it left behind somewhere like Lelouch's room. So I just had it returned here since it still ultimately served the same purpose.
> 
> This is also the last of the current chapters I have. With the, as of this posting, ongoing issues with posting stories to FF.net, I decided I wanted a second site to post to as backup or replacement should anything get worse there. I thought about posting the chapters slowly over time, but decided that I might as well put everything up now.


End file.
